How to Speak Dragonese
by Victoria62015
Summary: Sequel How to be a Pirate Meets the Movie.   Hiccup being able to understand dragons is good, right? Well, that's what he thought before the Romans came. Friendships are risked, in Hiccup's new crazy venture.  Plausible Love Triangle! and NOT Yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: E'llo! Yes! I have returned, to write you my favorite book in the HTTYD dragon series, *drum roll* How to Speak Dragonese! Of course, you can't forget my fun little tweeks now can you? Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Give me advice and feedback, please, they keep me going! Told in Hiccup's POV!**

**A VERY special thanks to Toothless-the-nightfury for beta'ing! Check out his stories, they epic-ly awesome! **

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Dark Oceans**_

Ok, it was eight in the morning, we had been waiting forty-five minutes for our alcohol-loving teacher, the twins would not shut-up, oh, and did I mention it was eight in the morning? I was ready to bite someone's head off. Twice.

"Ughhhh! Where's Gobber?" Ruffnut complained, sinking down into a slouch where she sat.

I peered around the training ring, half expecting him to just pop out. "I don't know. . . he's usually not late like this," I said, getting the slightest bit concerned.

I heard Toothless snort behind me; _"He's probably eating or something. Or drinking mead. Neither would surprise me from him at eight in the morning," _Toothless smirked. I gave him a disapproving look and leaned down to his head, so I could whisper.

"That wasn't very nice."

He chuckled, _"Ha! I'm not a very nice dragon."_

I just rolled my eyes... Toothless was never, errm, perky, par say, in the morning. All trainees were sat in a circle, waiting for our teacher to arrive and strangely, he was late, and late was not usual in the slightest. We probably would've been worried if it not had been Gobber… Maybe he just overslept, or maybe Toothless was right and he was just eating. . .or drinking mead. Sorry to admit it but it was a rather good guess.

I slumped against Toothless, getting inpatient and irritable. I took a deep breath, sucking in the chilly Icelandic air, feeling the cold burn my lungs and glanced at Astrid who gave me a small smile back, obviously still tired, and getting as inpatient as me. I of course gave her my signature lop-sided grin, making her roll her ocean-eyes. She slouched against Sharp, closing her eyes as if she were to fall back asleep, both of us sighing contently, and I turned on my side to draw in the dirt with my finger. We had been waiting _too _long. Forty-five minutes at least, little more or a little less but whatever it was, I was still ready to march out of there and stomp home, to fall back asleep in my warm bed. . . . .but nope. Cause guess who strutted their way in when I thought that?

"Alright ya' lazy teens! Sorry I'm late, ye kno', lost track of time an' all. . ."

_"At the mead hall?" _Toothless mocked and I resisted the urge to chuckle.

"Anyway'z," Gobber continued, oblivious to Toothless's sarcastic remark, "TODAY! Yes today, we're going out to sea!" Gobber bellowed, smiling prideful-ly. The whole class groaned - yeah. . .why don't I tell you how well that went the last time we went out to sea for class?

Summary: Not very well. At all.

"Quit yer' whine'n! Now UP ya' lazy lots! And march!" he commanded, pointing a chubby finger at the exit. All stood, mumbling various curses, and lazily walked out of the arena to the docks.

Surprisingly, what met us was four miniature boats. We all looked at Gobber expectantly, who slyly cocked an eye-brow and broadened a smile. He gestured us to board the tiny ships, still with the sly grin. We all climbed in and set off nervously.

O~~~~~~O

"ALL RIGHT!" shouted Gobber, easily drowning out the rushing wind with his loud bellow, "Yer' probably all wonder'n why we'r on these tiny ships right noow, correct? Correct! Well, both Stoick and I agree that you should all practice _boarding an enemy ship. _Why? Well because of the little problem we had about a month's ago, wasn't it? That shoowed how vital dat skill really iz,"… the amputee babbled and babbled and babbled, like he usually did when explaining the day's lesson.

I sighed, blowing hard to get the bangs out of my eyes. Today was going to be a nuisance. Gobber had expected us to find a 'peaceable' fishing boat, as he likes to say, and then somehow steal one of their helmets. 'Peaceable' fishing boats were usually occupied by the non-Vikings from the coast opposite of Berk - for some reason unknown, us Vikings like to constantly raid these people, or just scare them out of their wits when we're bored.

Ha. And you wonder why these people are scared of us.

Let's just say we aren't exactly on 'buddy-buddy' terms with them. They do anything to avoid us. Which is why Gobber wants us to board one of their small boats and steal one of their little helmets. He thinks it'll be easy, and what's another peaceable fishing boat? They aren't going to do anything back, they're too scared he said. Well honestly, I pity these poor souls that have to put up with us. I didn't want to steal anything from them, but of course I didn't want to face the wrath of Gobber the Belch either; would my conscious or fear win?

"FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGHNMENT WILL RESULT IN CLEANING THE DRAGON, uh, BATHROOMS FOR A WEEK!"

Fear, you've won this round.

It was a bit of a comfort knowing nobody would get hurt, though. Just some beaten dignities and very mad peaceable fishermen, if we actually succeed.

As Gobber babbled about his first time boarding an enemy ship (which was - _strangely_ - when he was only four and it was a ship full of a cannibal Viking tribe…..nothing fake about _that_…..) I glanced around at my peers, seeing if any of them felt the same way I did.

Ruff and Tuff were in one boat with Fishlegs-which was a very bad idea in my opinion—both twins smiling largely and eyes full of excitement, but slight maliciousness. They loved this kinda stuff: raiding the innocent for fun... it was a _little_ concerning actually. Fishlegs on the other hand, well was being Fishlegs. His face chalk-pale, eyes darting back and forth with nervousness, and clinging onto the oar for dear life.

Snotlout and _Dogsbreath_ were in the other. Snotlout looked as excited and anxious as the twins, eyes bright and a slight smile perking through his lips. Dogsbreath was a little different, though. His eyes were narrowed in thought, an evil-pleasure-ful grin cutting through his daunting features. It was actually quite frightening. I turned my gaze away in slight disgust at his 'fun'.

Astrid was of course was in a boat with me, not looking excited, or evil, or anything really. Her expression was bleak; a warrior's mask. She was determined, ready for anything and I have to say I admired her highly for this; the straight faces she could whip out whenever she wanted. It came in handy at times, though other times it left me baffled and confused.

Toothless couldn't come as neither could the other dragons, they were too big. With a little argument and a very loud yell from Gobber, the dragons reluctantly stayed behind.

"RIGHT!" Gobber, bellowed, finishing his story and startling me out of my thoughts, "Now off with ya'! ONE RULE, _THOUGH! _You are NOT to LEAVE this BAY! Understand? Winter's a near'n and the tides are getting faster! _Plus, _just south of here runs the _summer's _current. Therefore, warmer waters, and that means _sharkworms._ Ye' don't want to get in a fight with 'em, now do ya?" Gobber warned, cocking and eye-brow and smiling playfully.

Sharkworms. Living in the icy waters of Berk, we usually didn't have to worry about those.Although, just south of here ran a summer's current, like Gobber just explained, and it was always warmer than other parts of the ocean. Sharkworms adored the warmth of the waters, so that's their natural habitat. They were a relatively tiny species; so why should we be so afraid you ask? Well, they're called sharkworms for a good reason. They are closely related to the shark, and have _five _rows of teeth sharp enough to puncture skin with little force, ungodly speed, and strength. And they're carnivorous. What do we have to worry about, you wonder? As long as we don't go in the water we should be fine! Yeah, well I didn't tell you the worst part, dear reader. Sharkworms have _legs. _Yes, you heard me right. Sharkworms are have a super rare ability of being able to survive on both water and land; though, they can only stay on land for about ten minutes. And I _still _haven't gotten to the worst part! They prefer human flesh. Sharkworms were known for raiding ships and dragging unsuspecting victims under water, drowning them, and then sucking out the blood, and to finish them off, slowly eat the rest of the carcass. Yummy, right?

"Now off with ya'!" Gobber ordered, pointing outwards. The trainees groaned, slowly mustering up enough strength to row against the tide's pull. It, surprisingly, was harder than it should have been, taking both me an Astrid off guard at first. Biting our lips in determination, we pulled the oars toward us, then away from us; repeating the process over and over again until we were moving at a good speed. Both Astrid and I got easily distracted from the outside world, purely focusing on the job at hand.

_"Hey! Would you slow down?" _

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the command, peering over the side of the small boat baffled.

"Toothless?" I said, surprised, and a little annoyed. "_Toothless!_ What are you doing! You were supposed to stay back at Berk, remember?" I stated, raising an accusing eye-brow.

He widened his eyes, giving his best innocent look. _"I'm just swimming… you know I like to do that often."_

I looked at him disapprovingly. "Really Toothless?"

He did his best to keep the ever-so innocent look, but my stern stare faltered him. Toothless let out a scoff, rolling his eyes. _"Yeah, ok, whatever, you caught me! I would like to come along, where's the harm?"_

"Toothless, you're suffocating me," I stated dully, staring straight ahead with a slight grin.

I heard Astrid burst into laughter. "Oh wow, you didn't expect him to follow you?" she mocked. I glared slightly, annoyed with the fact _I'm _the only one unaware of this.

_"So fine! I'm afraid you'll kill yourself! I had to intervene __two_ _times the last time you went out to sea for class, or you would've died! I have every right to follow you!" _Toothless protested.

I looked to Astrid, still irritated, "I'm surprised Sharp didn't follow you, too," I murmured.

Toothless snickered at that statement. _"Nadders can't swim for long and neither could most of the other dragons. They just aren't built for it," _he explained.

Now I was a little worried, "Well then what are you doing! You could drown!"

He looked at me as if I was stupid. _"Hey, hey look at this," _he mocked, looking down at himself, _"Wow, I'm all Night Fury. Yep, mhm. I __am__ built for this stuff, I'm perfectly fine. Now __you__, well you're a different story."_

"Toothless. . ." I whined, "Really? You can't trust me alone for one hour, if that!" I defended.

He snickered rudely, _"Oh please, I don't trust you for half an hour let alone a full one!"_

I glared harshly, feeling insulted. I wasn't that clumsy! "Toothless! Please, I'm fine! Astrid's here, she won't let anything happen."

"No I won't," she cut in, smiling at Toothless.

"See!"

"_But. . ._" she continued, getting a small 'oh, no' from me, "Even I admit a Night Fury's better protection than me," she held her head high, straightening her shoulders, "and that's saying something."

"You're not helping the situation!" I whispered, getting a little mocking laugh from her.

"Awww," I heard a taunting voice sing from behind, "Does the kitty have separation issues?"

Dogsbreath. Great.

I practically growled when I heard the deep, annoying voice. Both Astrid and I turned to face him, narrowing our eyes with irritation and annoyance.

"What?" Dogsbreath questioned, shrugging his shoulders defiantly, "You know the dragons were supposed to stay back at the island. What, dragon tamer and dragon tamer's dragon couldn't part for an hour?" he mocked.

"Obviously," I whispered to myself, still aggravated that Toothless had followed me.

"Snotlout," Astrid said, looking to Snotlout, "Will you _please_ get your friend to SHUT-UP?"

Snotlout, who was known for being Dogsbreath's little puppet, looked between the two at a total lost. He was Dogsbreath's good friend for a long time, but Dogsbreath liked to bully me and the other trainees had come to my defense whenever that were to occur. But because of their 'good' friendship, Snotlout hadn't the heart to intervene and risk it that friendship. Even if he didn't like the way he bullied me.

Snotlout finally rested his gaze on Dogsbreath, twiddling his fingers around the oar nervously, "Hey. . ." he started slowly, "l-lay off 'breath. We all know Toothless is over-protective, and the last trip out to sea hadn't gone all that well, he's probably worried," he explained.

_"THANK YOU!" _Toothless cut in, though only I knew what he was saying, _"Finally! See Hiccup? Even your dunce-headed cousin gets it!" _I rolled my eyes, glaring softly at Toothless.

"Hmph," Dogsbreath pouted, narrowing his eyes. Only he and I knew it was full-well _his _fault the last trip nearly cost me my life. He smiled slyly, eyeing me. "Fine. Makes sense. . ." he covered, giving me a knowing look, "Whatever. I'll leave you alone," he settled, looking away for a moment.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked!" I heard Snotlout whisper to himself.

Snotlout and Dogsbreath started rowing their little-ship again, both seemingly getting lost in their work. How wrong I was. Once Dogsbreath knew Snotlout was fully distracted, he looked at us with eyes full of malicious pleasure, and a slight evil grin threatening to slice through the rest of his features again. My eyes broadened and my mouth gaped when I saw this: it was never a good sign to see the person who liked to punch you in their free-time smile like that.

He slowly raised his oar out of the water, stretching it over to us. With one strong thrust, he shoved it against our boat.

Taken totally off-guard, both Astrid and I lost control of the steering. I nearly fell off the boat. Before we knew it we had been captured in the mighty current; and heading out of the bay, towards the summer's current.

Toothless had no choice but to duck under the boat and avoid it, or there was a good chance it would've knocked him out. Astrid and I paddled furiously, trying to get the boat back on track and away from the summer's current. But even with both of us it was no use. The tide was strong, stronger than usual... It was as if the salty-waters were pulling us toward something; like if someone had been at one end of the earth and was tugging on the ocean like someone would a blanket, reeling us in as their catch.

After minutes of useless effort to gain control of steering again, the rest of the trainees and Gobber's little boat were out of sight. The current's strength had finally dulled down, until Toothless was able to safely stop the boat for us. I peered at our surroundings with slight terror; it was all ocean. Nothing but a blue horizon for miles on end, it was as if Odin himself had picked up our little-boat and placed it straight in the middle of the sea. We were completely, and utterly, lost.

"Oh no. . ." I whispered to myself. Astrid looked to me with pleading eyes.

"What do we do, Hiccup?" she asked. I opened my mouth to reassure her, but nothing came out. Why was _I _always the one who had to save our butts?

"_Hey, Hiccup? Yeah, don't want to worry you and all, but the water's definitely warmer," _Toothless pointed out, looking at me.

I looked between dragon and girl, feeling helpless and lost. I held up my hands in defeat, "W-w-well I don't know what to do! Don't look at me, I don't have all the answers!"

"Oh no," Astrid muttered, "If even you don't have an answer there _is _no answer. Oh gods, Gobber's gonna murder us."

"_See, Hiccup? This here is the reason I don't trust you by yourself!" _Toothless said triumphantly.

I huffed out of irritation and annoyance. "For the love of the Gods! Toothless!" I addressed sternly, sticking up for myself, "Would you please give me breathing space! I know you're my best friend, and I'm touched you want me safe, but you are strangling me! I need room to breathe, bud!" I protested, the stress of the day catching up and rearing its ugly head.

"_It's not my fault, Hiccup!" _he roared back, now getting fed-up with me, _"Beginning fires, you are a death MAGNET, boy! What am I supposed to do, let you off by yourself to lose the other leg, too? Huh? Well no, I'm not! I am your dragon __and__ your best friend, so I have every RIGHT to be worried about your safety!" _he protested, eyes slowly slitting and roars getting louder.

I ignored him. "You follow me around like a dog! For Odin's sake, would you quit _mothering _me!"

He nearly chuckled with anger. _"Mothering? MOTHERING? I do not mother you!"_

"Yes, you do."

"_No, I __don't__."_

"YES, you do!"

_"NO I DON'T!"_

"YES YOU D-"

** "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SWEET AND INNOCENT WILL BOTH OF YOU SHUT YOUR HOLES!"**

Toothless and I both snapped our mouths shut, looking at the steaming girl with slight fear.

"We have a problem," she stated casually, as if she hadn't just blown up.

"Yeah, we're _lost,_" I said grimly.

"No, we have another, more serious, problem." Joy.

I raised an eye-brow. "What?" I asked.

She furrowed her eye-brows, and pointed in the other direction. "Look."

My gaze followed her pointed finger, finding a horrifying and alarming scenario. Just as I looked in the direction, a single sleek, black, jagged fin swiftly glided back under the water. And it wasn't Toothless. Astrid lowered her voice into a dark whisper,

"Sharkworms."

**A/N: UH OH! Looks like our two heroes are getting a little aggravated with each other, no? What will happen? Will the sharkworms get them? Will Toothless use his awesome Night Fury skill-age to save them? Or will him and Hiccup get into another fight, and risk their friendship? Join in next time, for chapter two of: How to Speak Dragonese! But you have to review! =) BTW: Check out the HTTYD Facebook page! They got an awesome sneak-peak at the short: "HTTYD: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon!" that you can buy with the DVD pack Oct. 15 in the USA!**

**God Bless!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. Heck, I don't even own the plot! It's all Cressida Cowell's and Dreamworks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Heeeeey! Thanks to anyone who reviewed, alert'd, or favorite'd this story! Means SOOO much, you have no idea how good I feel when I hear other people like it! So, here would be chapter two! Hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks Toothless-the-nightfury for betaing! : ) It's awesome!**

**Disclaimer: *sniffle***

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Loyalty**_

"Hiccup. . ." Astrid's voice trembled, "w-we have a problem."

"I know we do," I said with no emotion, "but I don't know what to do," I admitted, sighing heavily.

Toothless looked smug, _"No doubt I'll have to assist eventually. There are reasons I came along, __Hiccup__, reasons that were along the lines of this!" _he growled, still mad. It was his pride getting in the way, so he wouldn't drop the subject.

I sighed, trying to keep my composure (which was getting unbelievably hard). "Don't get cocky," I retorted, feeling his glare pierce through my back.

I never liked fighting with Toothless, Astrid, my Dad, or anybody for that matter. It broke my heart, in fact - I never liked yelling, especially when I was yelling insults at the people I cared about. If I ever did fight with someone, it felt like something caught in my throat every time I went to scream something at them. You know, like when you have the perfect come-back, and you don't want to yell it cause you know you don't mean it, but yet you overcome the lump in your throat and spit it out anyway. It feels like there's a stone-wall you have to knock down every time you go to say something hurtful. I don't know what came over me that day, I really don't. But—I just kept yelling and getting angrier by the second. It—_scared _me.

_"Oh, I'm so sorry, __master__. Please have mercy on my poor soul!" _he said sarcastically, giving the most pathetic look I've seen so far.

I rolled my eyes. "There's the cockiness, AGAIN."

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, "FOCUS! There are sharkworms nearby, and look at the time! They seem hungry!" she said as a matter-o-factly, "We need to do something. Now."

I took a deep breath; I didn't want to start yelling at Astrid because I was mad at Toothless. "Astrid. . .I'm really at a loss. I have no idea what to do!" I sighed again, slamming my palm to my face, "I'll come up with something," I added, reassuring myself more than her.

_"Don't go risking your life now!" _Toothless said, almost sarcastically.

I whipped around to face him. "Geez, thanks!" I shot back.

He rolled his eyes, giving an angered snort, _"Don't act like that, now. I was being serious," _he said a little more calmly.

"Of course you were," I said sarcastically, regretting it as it left my mouth.

He scoffed, _"Well fine, do whatever you want, it's __your__ funeral!"_

I shook my head, feeling my face flush with anger, "Oh please, Toothless, don't get all drama-y."

_"What? __Drama-__y? __Drama-__y! Did you seriously just say that!" _he growled.

I smiled victoriously. Oh yeah, even _he _knows nobody can beat _me_ in a challenge of words! HA! I know him like the back of my hand!

The corners of my mouth turned up into a sly grin. "Yes I did, _drama queen," _I mocked.

His nostrils were literally smoking with anger, the occasional flicker of blue fire sneaking its way into life, only to stop short of anything at all. I could see the rage seeping out all sides him! Unfortunately for him, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. _"Stupid HUMAN! I'm only acting this way 'cause I __care__ whether you die or not, Hiccup!" _Toothless defended.

"Yeah I can tell!"

The dragon nearly blew-up with fury, swishing around in the water with rage and anger. _"For the love of the GODS! __**NONE**__, and I mean __**NONE**__ of you HUMANS understand just how __**important**__ a rider is to their dragon, do you? All of us dragons agree! You are too __**RECKLESS**__! ALL OF YOU! If the other dragons and I had a say in ANYTHING we'd tie you to chairs, lock you in your rooms, and guard the door! Please, I'm begging! I promised the other dragons I'd watch over you guys today because they couldn't swim, and now I have to deal with my own hot-headed human as well. Will you and the others please just be __CAREFUL__?" _he spat, looking at me like I was stupid.

I pinched my nose, trying not to go off. You have to believe me when I say I really was touched when he just wanted to protect me, really! But—I don't know. The hot-headed thing was a little harsh. Toothless just kept pushing and pushing, I couldn't take it anymore!

"Toothless. . ." I eased, "I'm sorry we worry you. Really. But we're Vikings! These kinda things are what our lives revolve around! We need the bit of danger in our lives; you have to understand bud!" I reasoned, getting desperate.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes to the sky, _"Of course you would use that excuse, just like your Father... 'We're Vikings!' " _he mimicked in a high pitched voice, trying to copy my nasally tone.

"I don't sound like that!"

_"Have you listened to yourself lately? Good Gods boy, hit puberty already!"_

He brought the fact I haven't hit puberty yet into this? _Seriously?_

"That was low," I replied bleakly.

_"Yeah, well your voice isn't!" _he shot back.

"And you're calling me hot-headed? You're the one who won't leave me alone for an hour!" I retorted.

_"Do I need to write it down for you? I just told you why! You are my rider. You are my best friend. I made a promise to the other dragons. I don't care how much I would like to set your clothes on fire right now. __I'm__. __Not__. __Leaving__!" _he said sternly, glaring hard.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling the angered flush come whooshing back. My teeth sunk themselves down into my lip, an attempt to not scream it at him. "For the love of Odin himself, Toothless! I'm _fine! _Gods, you're just like my Dad!"

_"I'm more of family to you than your Dad. . ." _I heard him mutter, knowing for a fact he didn't want me to hear it.

Oh, but I forgot… I _did _hear it!

**"How **_**dare **_**you say that about my Dad!"** I spat, knowing my rage was about to fully reveal itself.

At first he was surprised; he didn't know I had heard him. But then his surprise shifted into anger, but the thing was—I'm not sure if it was at me.

_"I swear; your sire is anything but a Father figure! I was there for you every time he said anything hurtful to you, which was more often than it should have been! GODS, he disowned you! What Father disowns his son for being __different__?" _he said, asking himself more than me.

I was left speechless then—what was I supposed to do? Tell him my Father had all the rights to disown me? 'Cause honestly I'm not sure if he did or not. I opened my mouth to shout something at him, but it snapped shut when I thought twice.

_"Yeah," _he smirked, _"that's what I thought."_

"You went too far, Toothless," I finally resorted to.

He practically burst into laughter. _"I don't care! It needed to be said!"_

I clenched my fists, grinding my teeth hard against each other. He should've never come. He shouldn't of! It made me so angry! And then he's gotta go and insult my Dad like that—I just—I don't—ARGH! How the **heck** I am supposed to react in this situation!

"**Well maybe you should just stop speaking in the first place!**"

_"I'll speak all I want!"_

Then an idea popped in my head.

"Oh yeah?" I challenged.

_"Hmmm, let me think," _he pointed to himself and I could see his almighty 'nothing can beat a Night Fury' speech coming. _"Night Fury," _then he pointed to me _"Scrawny weak child that can't hold an axe. Hmm. Yeah, I'll take my chances."_

I snickered. "We'll see about that."

With little words of confusion from him, I slowly drew the Dragon Stone from beneath my tunic. Toothless's eyes gleamed when he realized what I was doing.

_"Hiccup! I swear by the Gods NAMES-!"_

I didn't even let him finish. With a triumphant smirk, I took the Stone off my neck, pinching it with my thumb and middle finger. Toothless growled in rage, all I did was taunt him a bit by dangling it above the deep water. When he saw this, the growling ceased. Toothless's sharp green eyes reduced to glaring knives, as if that would do much. Dropping my face into a serious frown, I dropped the necklace on board of the small ship, not intending to put it back on for a while.

"Oooops," I mocked, "it _slipped_."

Astrid stared in disbelief.

But not just at me.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, look!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down like a child.

"What?"

The girl pulled on my elbow, seemingly oblivious to the fight Toothless and I had. "It's a ship! Look, see? Just in the fog!" she exclaimed, pointing towards the brown moving mass.

It was a ship. It looked rather ghastly, protruding from the fog like magma erupting from a volcano. It was giant, huge, colossal in fact! But that's exactly what worried me; peaceable fishing boats were never that large.

"Astrid. . . ."

"Look, Hiccup! Maybe they can help us, we've got to do something; or else we're fish food!"

"I know Astrid," I reasoned, putting a hand on her shoulder, "but, that boat's awfully large to be just a fishing boat. We don't know who could be on that ship," I warned.

Toothless snorted behind me. I shot a slight glare in his direction.

Astrid whipped around to look me hard in the eyes. "Does it matter, Hiccup? It's either deal with the people on that boat—or face the sharkworms! I'd rather take my chances with _Toothless _in a_ fight over cod_ than have to face sharkworms!"

Ignoring another snort from the Night Fury, I cautiously studied the approaching ship. That's when I realized that it wasn't actually approaching _us, _we were approaching _it. _The current had started back up, and ever so slowly we were being reeled towards the giant mass at a steady rate. And then just like that, the current stopped; right when we were just a mere foot—if that—away from the ship. It was almost chilling how it all worked out.

Astrid placed her hand on the ship, readying herself to scale up the planks.

"Astrid, don't!" I whispered urgently, as if anyone would hear me.

She turned her head to me, a confused glint dancing in her eyes. "Why, Hiccup? What's the worst that could happen!" she whispered back. She gave me the 'don't be stupid!' look and then started to scale the planks.

"I've heard that before. . . ." I muttered.

I stared longingly at Astrid as she climbed the planks with ease, no effort at all it seemed. Something in my gut was telling me—screaming at me—that this was a bad idea. Even though I didn't want to even speak to the dragon, I looked at Toothless. He still had the angered expression, but his eyes said different. They were, concerned and—fearful?

My lips parted a bit at this. I was confused; why did he care? He was mad at me; the only real reason he would care at this point is if. . . .

Taking a deep breath, I kneeled down and gingerly searched the bottom of the boat for the Dragon Stone. When my fingers felt the cool jewel and metal framing, I swiftly stood back up and slipped it on my neck, and under my tunic. Toothless squinted his eyes; confused with my actions. He cocked his head, not talking, but his face said it all.

'_You feel it too, don't you?'_

I took another deep breath. "What's wrong?" I asked cautiously.

His face turned into rock, showing no hint of emotion. _"Don't go up there."_

A singe of anger reverberated through me at his over-protectiveness again. But right now I wanted answers, so I didn't show any signs of hostility or rage towards him. "Why?" my voice trembled.

His whole face just collapsed, he was sorrow-filled and looked almost helpless. _"I don't want you too, why do you think!"_

"I need a reason!" I demanded, squeezing my hands into tight fists at my sides.

I saw his whole body shake with effort to not blow-up, but he composed himself none the less. _"Please listen to me, there's—something's—please," _he begged pitifully. My heart fell at his concern; something was really wrong. Really really wrong.

And then it was confirmed when Astrid's screams cut through the fog like a dagger.

"Astrid!" I yelled, immediately whipping around and looking up at the commotion on the ship.

I turned back to Toothless, who was looking up at the boat with the same concern as me. His jade orbs met my gaze, and his face narrowed sternly. _"Stay down here, don't even __think__ about going up there!" _he commanded.

My breath caught, and ever so slowly my eyes narrowed into a fierce glare, my jaw setting tight. "Toothless, now's not the time to get protective. Astrid needs me!" I retorted, gesturing to the boat.

He snarled with frustration. _"I don't care! You getting caught too is not going to help her one bit!"_

"I'm sorry Toothless, I am, but I'm going on that boat!" I shouted.

"_Not if I have anything to say about it! Right now Hiccup I am not talking to you as a friend – not in the slightest! Right now I'm being your dragon and I'm supposed to keep you, my human, out of harm's way! __**And by GOD if that means pulling you in this water and swimming home with you in my mouth, you better believe I'll do it!"**_He screeched, his pupils turning into the signature slits.

"I don't care what you say Toothless! Astrid's up there, in trouble," my voice drifted, "she needs me!" I pleaded.

His eyes were piercing through my body; it hurt to see him so mad towards me, but I didn't care. Astrid needed me! I couldn't just leave her! _"Hiccup, for once in your life, just listen to me!"_

"No!" I interrupted, "I'm going up there! Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm going up there, _**beast**_!"

And with one simple word, the whole world stopped.

My breath caught. Toothless was frozen in the water.

I just called Toothless a beast. . . . .

My hand flung to my mouth. I was ashamed. Pitifully and pathetically ashamed. Toothless looked like he had just been shot with an arrow, his face twisted into disbelief and eyes full of pain and hurt. I opened my mouth to apologize, but all that came out were stutters. My body couldn't form the words to apologize for some reason—but I needed too! Why couldn't I?

I sighed heavily, slumping my shoulders in shame. I met his eyes, trying to say my apology through my own eyes, but I'm not sure if he got the message. I turned my back to him, too mortified to look him straight in the eye. I didn't mean to call him a beast. . . . it was just—Astrid was in trouble, I needed to help her, and he wasn't letting me. I don't know what was wrong with me. I just wanted to reverse time and never go to training in the first place.

I punched the larger ship, hard, biting my lip at the stings that ran up my arm. I peered up at the mocking, looming vessel, listening to the commotion above with fear and anger. Breathing deeply, I pinched my fingers in between the planks, and heaved myself up. I shoved my prosthetic in between another crack between the lower planks, the thin piece of metal barely fitting and resting my foot on another plank, I heard the satisfying spring of the prosthetic coming to a rest. It was the only sound throughout the dense fog, and honestly probably the worst. I looked to Toothless—**not** a beast—again, begging for forgiveness.

His expression looked hurt, and in a monotone voice he muttered three mere words. _"Just be careful."_

I felt tears of shame weld in my eyes at the mumbled sentence. I banged my head against the damp wood, simply nodding back and continuing my venture up the ship's wall. It didn't take long, but I eventually made it. And immediately wished I hadn't.

What I saw at the top made my heart come to a jolting stop, my face hot and stinging with fear.

Romans.

This was a _Roman_ ship, _that's_ why it was so big! Now I was raged, digging my nails into the soft wood to conceal my anger. The Romans had Astrid. _MY _Astrid! I quickly dove back down, just standing up high enough to peer over the edge with sharp eyes.

Romans and Vikings are pure enemies; we _despise_ each other with a passion! Us Vikings would not think twice about fighting on the same side as another tribe, even if we hated them, as long as we were fighting Romans. It's the only thing Vikings could ever agree upon. Romans were the enemy, let's burn their city down.

But what I saw behind the Romans is what terrified me.

Dragons. By the _hundreds. _All held in cages and whimpering. There were kinds I've never even seen before; spotted ones, large ones, small ones, I can't even name all the different characteristics. These people were _Roman Dragon-rustlers_. Romans loved the shiny, smooth skin of dragons. To my horror, Romans constantly made togas, shoes, even hand-bags out of their delicate skins. And obviously, they liked to use them for other reasons, too.

They had dragons that seemed to be glowing in lamps, used to light up the ship in the dense fog. Other dragons were being held in war-balloons, where the dragon would breathe fire and the balloon would slowly rise. Some were pulling stuff; some were being whipped and ordered around the ship. It was a sickening sight, I almost wanted to vomit. And kill them all for what they had done to these magnificent creatures.

But there would be no time for that.

Romans started dragging a kicking and struggling Astrid into a near-by tent. I hefted myself onto the boat as quickly and quietly as possible.

With as little noise as physically plausible, I darted my way over to the off-white tent, steadily peering inside at the inner argument.

"Well what do we do with the girl!" One shouted.

"Hmph," one moped, crossing his hairy, burly arms, "just toss her over-board, who needs _Vikings_ anyway!" I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes at the man with hatred.

"Ohhh, but wait," a thin man drawled, standing up from the lounging he had been laying on and stepping closer to Astrid with a wicked smile.

I let myself look farther into the room, studying it with confusion and a child's curiosity.

Drapes hung from the ceiling, making the room look rich and elegant. Guards and servants lined the walls, and of course the few guards in the middle. There were two elegant white lounging couches nearly side by side each other, the only thing separated them was a table in between; on top the table seemed to be a dish full of food on top. What the food was, I couldn't tell. But the man relaxing on the couch to the right seemed to be enjoying whatever they were.

He was very plump. And by very plump, I mean if he sat on me I would most likely die. He had a tuft of blonde hair on top his head, a leafed crown hiding most of it, and proclaiming his authority in the room. His cheeks were extremely rosy, and chubby. The man was eating what was in the dish at a vast rate, as if they would disappear any moment.

"What, prefect?" the chubby man inquired, pinching whatever he was horking down between two fingers, and examining it like you would something new.

And that's what I saw what it was.

It was a _dragon. _Still alive!

The dragon was no bigger than my eye, a fiery red blanket of scales illuminating his tiny body. The tiny thing struggled and squeaked, though could not fly or get away. Then I saw why. It was coated in _honey. _The sticky-substance seemed to slow down the poor creature, and prevented it from escaping. The large man smiled at it, then with a sickening snap popped the thing in his mouth. I flinched at the final squeal it let out, words that I could barely pick up, but did and have no intention on repeating. Who in their right mind would _eat_ a dragon, still alive for that matter! It was just disgusting.

The thinner man that he had called 'prefect' stood tall with his gangly legs, bending down and examining Astrid as if she was a new species. Astrid burned a glare at the man, but said no words. The prefect cackled in delight.

The prefect was honestly quite spooky looking. He always had one hand hiding beneath a cloak he wore, and his eyes and nose were hidden by a helmet that sat atop his head. His veiny-fingers tapped his chin playfully, like he was thinking.

"She could be used _awfully _well in our plan, dear Consul," he explained, turning to the fat man he had referred to as 'Consul'.

Plan?

The Consul licked his fingers, finally looking at the prefect with questioning eyes. "How so?" he asked.

"Mmm, I cannot tell you," the thin man explained, once again looking at Astrid with a perking malicious smile, "but trust me, she will be used well."

That's when I began to panic. The way he had said it, so evilly, and almost mockingly, horrified me. What were they going to do? What plan? Was it against Vikings? I looked around the ship, searching frantically for a solution.

And then it hit me.

The lights!

Whatever dragon seemed to power those lights had an electrical glow to it. I crept my way over to one, standing on tip-toe to get a better look. I was right; each serpent-like dragon had waves of electricity protruding off them like whips. Only the tips of their tails had no source of light. Hesitantly, I carefully reached a hand in, automatically reeling it back when one of the dragons shocked me. I sucked on my finger for a moment to dull the pain, then trying to play it safer I took out a handkerchief out of my vest-pocket. With a quick movement, I plucked one of the dragons out of the light, holding it delicately and saying soothing words. It calmed a bit, realizing my intentions weren't to hurt it, and then I made my way back to the tent.

But what I heard inside stopped me.

"But we'll be in Berk in just a few days!"

"I understand, but this girl could end up playing a key role if we play our cards right," the prefect spat.

Berk?

_**Berk**__!_

"What do you want to do with Berk!" I heard Astrid shout, outraged.

"HUSH, CHILD! You'll find out soon enough," the prefect mocked, smiling that evil wicked grin I've come accustomed to seeing.

Oh no. A million thoughts crossed my mind. Berk, they wanted to do something with Berk, therefore they wanted something to do with us! You have no idea how dreadfully bad I wanted to sprint back to our little boat and row back to warn Berk, but I couldn't.

They had Astrid.

I shoved all the bad thoughts to the back of my mind, no matter how much they protested. I had to get to Astrid before something even worse happened.

With a new found determination, I slyly slid into the room undetected. The draperies and commotion provided a good cover as I scaled along the wall, remaining unseen. So here was my plan: After I use this electrified-dragon as a, um, 'distraction', I was going to let all the dragons go. That should cause an up-rise big enough to get Astrid and me both out of there, and if we were really lucky we would get back in time to warn Berk.

I switched hiding behind delicate cloth to delicate cloth, finally coming close enough to the table that held the little-dragons coated in the sweet honey. There was only one left. I picked up the panicked dragon, carefully setting him down in my vest pocket. At least I could save one. While everyone seemed to be arguing over the prefect's secret plan, I knew it was time. I replaced the smaller dragon with the electrified one, and waited for the fat Consul to do his job.

And boy, did he do it.

Right as my hand was hidden back beneath the curtain, the Consul searched the dish of honey for the last dragon. He found it all right.

The Consul wrapped his chubby fingers around the electrified-dragon; right on contact the fat man had cried out in pain. Before I knew it he was on the floor shaking and twitched, spit oozing out of his mouth from the electric shocks.

Call it poetic justice.

I was ready to make my move.

But then again, as you all have come to learn, stupid _**fate's**_got to get in the way of everything!

"**THIS IS THE WORK OF HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE III!**" The prefect screeched, scanning the room.

I was frozen.

The prefect knew who I was. . .he knew it was me! How?

Panic welled inside me like a flower ready to bloom at any moment. This was not good. Not good at all. And if I only knew it would get ten-times worse.

I pretty much guessed it when the prefect smiled with a disgusting malicious gleam.

"Kill the girl."

Well _**that**_wasn't part of the plan.

The guard smiled in glee. "As you wish, _prefect."_

He brandished a long, skinny sword from his belt, swinging it high above his head to make it reflect a glittering-spot throughout the room. My heart lurched into my throat when he smiled evilly, preparing to bring it down. On Astrid.

"**!"**

Only one thing to do in this situation!

"**!"**

Scream for your dragon.

**A/N: Yup. Pretty intense, right? Just to let you guys know, my chapter lengths are going to be all over the place. Some may only be 2000 words, others can be up to 4000. Sorry if this bothers some of you, I know I'm not too fond of it either. : ( Anywho, review, please! Am I doing OK with morphing the books and movies? I really need to know, and if any of you guys have an idea about a book and movie morph (get what I mean?) let me know! I'm trying to make it a little bit older, but it's kinda hard. Advice is ADORED! : D**

**God Bless!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi, sorry it took me so long to update. I realized 'WOAH! I have a family, I totally forgot! WOW! Mom, did you cut your hair? 'yes…' NO WAY! 'you were there!' NO FREAK'N WAY!' and took a break from writing to spend time downstairs instead of locked up in my room in the dark... ... anyway. Thanks for all the feed-back, and alerts or anything like that! Hope you guys like this chapter!**

**And to answer EVERYONE'S question: Yes! The awesome Camicazi will be in the story! Just please, be patient. Remember I am trying to stick to the book, and he meets Camicazi later. . .I shall not reveal when for those whom haven't read the book. Just wait, give it a good one or two chapters and she'll be here in no time.**

**Special, BIG thanks to Toothless-the-nightfury for being my beta! And sending me all the cool HTTYD vid's and stuff XD Check out his stories, they're worth it!**

**Disclaimer: if I owned HTTYD, there would be unicorns, talking rabbits in waist coats, wizards, plus dragons and Vikings. But alas... . **

_**Chapter 3**_

_**When it All Falls**_

The room stood frozen at my outburst, standing there with gaping mouths at my sudden appearance. The prefect smiled evilly at me, almost—almost—like he had expected me to do the very thing. His eyes then lingered to the guard holding Astrid, anger flushing to his cheeks.

"KILL HER!" he commanded again.

"N-!" I started to protest, racing toward them with outstretched arms.

Seconds before reaching the guard that threatened Astrid, a familiar, terrifying screech cut through the chaos like knife through butter. Before I knew it the guard holding Astrid was hopping up and down, clutching his flaming foot and shouting curses at the world; the other Roman was just stood still from the pure shock of it all, but my heart fluttered with relief as I heard the familiar bounds of a particular Night Fury's sprint.

As if a war horn had been blown, the whole room alighted with chaos and pandemonium. A loud infuriated roar had erupted right another shot of blue fire shone outside the tent, with a loud roar following it. The white canvas whipped open as Toothless zoomed in, the residual blue fire flickering from his nostrils once again.

He roared a warning to all the Romans, staying in a crouched position ready to leap on anybody that crossed the line. I was at Astrid's side in a moment, hugging her and thanking the Gods for her safety.

_"Hiccup!"_

I pulled away from Astrid and turned to face Toothless, his expression grim and bleak.

_"You and Astrid get out of here, got it?"_

"But—but what about—," I disputed, not wanting to leave my dragon behind.

_"For the love of all that is good, __**do as I say**__!"_

I wanted to protest more, but the Roman guard could only be distracted for so long, and I had Astrid's security to think of, too. Before I could even think about what I was doing, I had shoved Astrid out of the tent and into the thin blanket of gray outside. The chill of the air made the hairs on my neck prickle, and my cheeks stung in reply to the cold. But what we saw gave the reason why I felt my stomach give a sudden lurch, my thoughts filled with all the bad outcomes of this situation... We stood frozen at the sight of how many _more _guards there were outside, all charging for us. Astrid looked back at me, eyes glazed with a thick coating of determination.

"Come on!" she urged, taking off towards the side of the ship.

I sprinted after her, feeling panic finally start to dwell in the pit of my stomach, seconds ticking by as the feeling grew and threatened to blow.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Almost there, almost to the side of the ship and we'll all be home free!

Tick tick tick tick.

I was _so _close, just a few more meters!

**Tickticktickticktick!**

But I never made it.

I didn't even know what was going on when I felt a hand clamp over my mouth and jerk my entire head back. My neck ached with the sudden force of whiplash, a whimper of pain escaping my throat; the hand pulled me back to the side of the tent, where no one was watching, and no one would see me. I screamed against the hand of my captor but nothing more than a slight muffle coming out. He rammed my head against his stone-hard chest, nearly making me feel dizzy and light-headed.

"Shhhhhhhh," the sandy-voice almost soothed, "Shh shh shh. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III," the ruffed voice mocked in a sing-song tone, "or," he grabbed the chain around my neck, jerking it up with a swift motion so the Dragon Stone was almost choking me, "heir to Grimbeard the Ghastly."

And that's when the panic-bomb blew up.

He knew, this man knew. He seemed to know all my secrets… how? **How!** Only Astrid and Toothless knew I was the true heir to my great-great grandfather. Was this man watching me? Was the whole Roman Empire keeping an eye on me! Why? Why would they have been watching me in the first place!

I felt the chill of his breath by my ear, as I constantly tried screaming or making _some noise _against his hand. He simply shushed me with the taunting, soothing tone drenched in his voice. I despised this man, even though I barely knew him. "Now, now, Hiccup," he practically sung, "don't take this the wrong way, lad, but _you _are a very important part in our little plan, more important than you'll _ever _know." Now I was scared. The plan had to do with me? But what could I possibly mean to a bunch of Romans? "And your guys little stunt just made our job ten-times easier. So I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this—but," he drawled, "—you're gonna come back with me."

I struggled against the hold frantically, clawing at the muscly hand and making more muffled noises that were really no use. I watched his faint, ghostly shadow raise something thin and curved above my head. I closed my eyes and turned my face away, preparing for the blow.

Then something charged into my stomach, sending my captor and I hurtling backwards and into the tent.

In an instant I was enveloped by the off-white sheets of the tent, feeling confused and panicked. My arm was aching, stinging; I felt something warm slide down to my hand. I gazed at my arm in pure horror as a thin cut oozed dark red liquid down my entire arm. How... how did I get that? I felt nothing graze against my arm—I never made contact with the wood until I actually fell, whatever had run into me never touched it, only the person who had grabbed me would have been able to do anything to it. But—but with what?

"_Hiccup!"_

I was jostled out of my thoughts as I heard a familiar, rough voice call my name.

"Toothless!" I shouted in reply, hurriedly throwing the sheets off my head and coming into contact with the harsh, Icelandic air again. I ignored any stings that screeched from my arm, feeling relieved to see Toothless tangling himself out of the sheets just a few meters away. "Toothless! Are you ok?"

He seemed to almost laugh at my concern. _"Yeah, I'm fin—oh my gods! Hiccup your arm!"_

"I—," I began, but a sudden cackling just a little distance away distracted me.

And then I saw my captor: the prefect. His helmet hid his eyes and nose, his right hand being hidden under the pitch-black cloak of his. He was screeching like a mad-man, his hand clutching his stomach and head thrown back with laughter. I'm not sure if the fact his eyes were hidden was a good thing or not. I would never be able to see his _true _emotion that eyes always let out, but then again, I'm not sure if I wanted too. The cackling was so menacing, so intimidating, that my stomach began to knot in worry and consume itself in fear. My eyes widened, the chill of the air making them water, and I inched back on all fours and away from the crazy man.

I looked to Toothless; his face totally disbursed in fear, worry, and shock. This baffled me. Toothless was rarely afraid, I have no idea why he would worry with such a skinny, lean man, and why would he be shocked?

"_No—how?—it can't—," _I heard him muttering to himself, baffling me further.

"Toothless, what's wrong?" His head whipped to me, pupils in thin slits and disbelief still on his face.

"WHAT'S WRONG!" the prefect howled, ceasing his laughter and making me jump.

"Why nothing boy—nothing!" he mused, stepping closer to me and emitting a low growl from Toothless. "The black-devil here was always _so_ pathetically protective, wasn't he?" My brain leapt with horror at his further knowledge about me. He narrowed his eyes, voice dropping and becoming solemn. "And I just found out why!"

Toothless's eyes widened, his mouth going slack. I felt my breath catch itself in the middle of my throat, and I eyed the man with eyes full of hatred, but a dying curiosity to his 'discovery'. He asked me if I would like to know. I nodded, not sure if it was because I really _did _want to know or just to amuse the male.

"His _flight," _he cackled again, "_You're_ his _FLIGHT!"_

This piece of information actually confused me, my brain unsure of how to process it. I cocked my head, eyes broadening in the slightest at the gangly man.

"_Don't listen to him!" _Toothless shouted, looking horrifically between me and the prefect, but not taking any action.

"He doesn't care about you," the prefect continued, as another, tighter knot took hold of my intestines, it seemed. "He never cared about _you!"_

"_Don't listen to him__!"_

"You're just his tail, his pride! His _flight! _He loses you, and every ounce of prideful-ness the pitiful **beast** had goes with you!" He erupted into a howling laughter, clutching his stomach again, "He only cares about his GOD'FORESAKEN FLIGHT! Never YOU!"

My heart fell, a hurt frown tugging at my lips. I clutched at the damp wooden deck, feeling light-headed and weak.

Toothless looked in pain, his eyes full of shock and hurt. _"__He's __**LYING**__!__"_

"You're lying," I repeated in whisper.

He hollered with snickers. "How do you know, boy? How do you know! He's afraid you'll find out, and you'll take away his ability of flight yourself by leaving the dragon!"

"_Don't listen-"_

"He never cared... "

"_He's just playing with you!"_

"Once someone comes along that's better than you and who can control _that fin," _He laughed again, "GODS! I wouldn't be surprised if you got rid of you HIMSELF!"

That felt like a dagger ripping through my entire body, and my lifeless pieces falling into a pitiful heap on the ground.

Toothless was out for blood. _**"I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!"**_

"He only cares—."

"_**DON'T LISTEN!**__"_

"—about his FLIGHT!"

Toothless tackled him to the ground, screeching in a full-blown rage. But instead of slitting his throat or setting him on fire, he looked back to me with sad eyes and rushed to my side. He nuzzled my neck, making a pained rumbling noise. I stood absolutely still, trying to still comprehend what the prefect just said.

Because it was all true.

If Toothless lost me... he'd be losing his flight. His pride and joy, the thing that sets him apart from other dragons! I… I wasn't sure who to believe anymore. My brain was torn.

"_Hiccup," _Toothless addressed, looking me straight in the eye, _"you need to leave! It's him, it's him! I don't know how, but—but it's him!"_

"Is it true?" I mumbled miserably.

Toothless looked like he had just been struck. _"What? What he—NO! You can't believe him, he's lying!"_

"But it is true... " I whispered more to myself, "if you lost me, you wouldn't be able to—."

"_HICCUP!" _he roared, actually scaring me and causing me to recoil away from him. _"It's not true! IT'S NOT TRUE! You and Astrid need to get off the ship, NOW! It's him, Hiccup. It's him!"_

"Who?" I asked, my voice trembling. I stood up, legs shaking and feeling unsteady.

But before he even had a chance to answer, the prefect was full-on sprinting towards us, anger clear in his face.

Toothless looked at me, pupils wide and, actually, looking confused. _"Go!" _He commanded sternly.

"What? But—but what about—what about—"

He growled at me, pupils instantly slitting into a fierce glare. Toothless glanced back at the prefect, turning back to me with blazing eyes. He shoved me to the ground as an attempt to get me moving, but instead my head hit hard against the wood.

"_I said __**GO!**__"_

Toothless immediately whipped around and tackled the prefect, the prefect laughing wildly like this was a simple game he was playing with a dog. Toothless growled, his forearms tensing and readying to swipe at the man's neck. Before doing so the prefect hit Toothless upside the head with something hard, what I don't know, but it managed to leave Toothless looking dizzy as he rolled to the side.

"HICCUP!"

I swung myself around and popped off the ground.

"Astrid!"

She threw her arms around my back, squeezing me tight for a moment before pulling away and punching my arm.

"Hiccup, good gods, I thought the guards got you!"

"Astrid—I—something's—"

But she was already tugging on my hand toward where our little boat floated. "We have to go, NOW! I don't want to hear anything, let's GO!"

She started running toward the side of the ship, dragging me along with her; when we made it she threw herself over the side, plunging toward the little boat at a vast rate. Astrid met wood harshly, a gasp of surprise escaping her mouth as stood to look back at me. "Come on!" she shouted.

I peeked back at the fight behind me, another shout from Astrid throwing me over the side of the ship and landing on the deck of our little boat with a harsh thud. My knees buckled under me, the weight on the prosthetic making my leg give out as I fell to the ground. Astrid instantly helped me up, looking at me with concern etched in her blue orbs.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"I'm fine—I'm fine," I assured, looking back up at the ship with concern, anxiety, and worry combining to form a horrible feeling of dread. "Toothless... where's Toothless!"

To my dismay, I noticed the boat starting to drift _away _from the larger ship. Away from my best friend that was still trapped on it.

"Astrid, Astrid! The boat's moving, we gotta wait for Toothless! He's still on there!"

Astrid's eyes widened when she noticed I was right, and both of us started clawing at the larger ship hoping to get a hold on it and stop the boat from moving any further. When that didn't work, we both tried rowing the boat closer to the ship, paddling furiously towards the mass of wood. But the current had different plans; all of our attempts failed.

My body began trembling with panic as I heard a shriek of terror come from the ship.

All of my attention flipped towards the ship, and the ebony dragon balancing on the side trying to fend off the Romans. He kicked them all to the side, looking at me with all seriousness.

"Thank the Gods," I whispered, starting to wave my arms to signal him and raising my voice, "TOOTHLESS!" He smiled a gummy smile to me, to calm my nerves no doubt, and made to leap off the ship.

My eyes widened with absolute terror when an unsuspecting Roman charged at Toothless from behind, where Toothless couldn't see him, a spear held high.

"TOOTHLESS! BEHIND YOU!"

His pupils dilated in fright. Next thing I knew he was screeching in absolute pain and alarm, a screech so terrifying yet heartbreaking it brought pools of aching tears to my eyes. The Roman smiled menacingly, forcefully jerking the spear out of Toothless and making bright red blood splatter across his face.

"No... "

Astrid was looking at the scene with horror she rarely revealed, and I saw tears come to her eyes as quickly as the spear had been struck in Toothless. My tears were now flowing as fast as the blood pouring from my dragon. Toothless whimpered, making my stomach clench, and to add to all my sorrow and dread a Roman threw a net over Toothless. He whimpered louder, trying to roar but in too much pain, and with a sickening flick of the wrist the Roman drug Toothless to the ground.

"**TOOOOOOOOTHLESSSSS!" **I screamed, trying to get any type of response from the dragon.

But instead I got a terrifying cry of help as he called my name, _**pleading**_ for me to come back. It was _**horrifying**_. It was so rare when Toothless needed help with _anything, _yet here he was right now whimpering my name as his voice got weaker and lower. All my spirits left, I felt like my body became an empty shell; the only emotion I felt was terror, sorrow, dread, and guilt. I couldn't go back to help my friend because of the strong, cursed, wretched current… I was powerless as my dragon lay possibly dying on the deck of a Roman-Dragonrustler ship. I truly felt sick.

"**TOOOOOOOOTHLESSSSSSS!**" I screeched again, feeling that was the only thing I could do.

Last thing I saw before the ship was totally consumed in fog was the prefect, waving with the very spear that stabbed Toothless, and the some of the Roman guard lifting my friend up in a net so I got one, heart tearing, last look at him. How low could mankind get?

I started trembling so bad the whole boat was shaking, Astrid placed a hand on my shoulder for reassurance.

"W-w-w-we gotta go back. We gotta go back!"

I snatched up the paddles and rowed with all my might towards the direction of the ship, feeling flustered and unsteady. Astrid looked at me with sympathy, grabbing the sides of my arms and halting my rowing.

"Hiccup—," she eased, me ignoring her and babbling about how we have to go back, "Hiccup," I still ignored her, "Hiccup!" I looked at her alarmed, afraid she was mad at me. But her eyes softened, and her voice calmed. "We can't go back, Hiccup."

"W-what?" Anxiety built up, and I felt like my whole head would just blow up any second. "W-why?"

"Hiccup, calm down... "

"Why, why! He **would** come back for me, he'd **try** to save me! Why can't _I_** save** him for once! GODS this is so **UNFAIR**! Whenever **I** need help **he's** always there but the one time **he's** in trouble **I** can't do anything! It's not fair!" I whined like a child.

Astrid rubbed my arms in a soothing matter, speaking gently. "I know, but if we get caught too that's not gonna change anything. If not make it worse for him because he's worrying about you. We can't go back Hiccup. I'd be in the same state you are if it were my dragon up there," she looked longingly at the distant fog, a secret feeling of sadness taking over, "I'm so sorry," she said, hugging me.

"I-I called him a **beast**!" I blurted out, the horrible memory flooding back.

She pulled away, shocked; "What?"

"W-we got in a fight! And I was so angry… I didn't know what I was doing! It just came out... Oh gods, he thinks I think he's a **beast**! But I don't, I was just mad! Astrid, the last real conversation we had was one where I ended up calling him a **beast**!" I whined again, my head hurting with all the jumbled up emotions. "It's the last proper thing I said to him!" I buried my face in my hands, ashamed.

She sighed, patting my back. "Come on, go sit over there. You're in no condition to be paddling us home; I'll do it."

"But—!" I argued, but a harsh glare from her shut me up. I stood up and trudged my way to the end of the boat, curling up into a pitiful ball on the ground. Astrid groaned with the effort of paddling, and all I could do was hide my face and beg the Gods to wake me up from this nightmare. Too bad I never did.

O~~~~~~O

"Now tell me again, why did you disobey my orders and travel out'a th' bay!"

"We didn't mean to Gobber!" Astrid defended, getting right up in the man's face, "I told you it was the current! We had no control over it!"

It was nearly midnight by the time we found our way back to Berk. The sky was as dark and gloomy as my mood. Even the bright moon didn't leave a trickle of light, the charcoal puffy clouds eclipsing the stars and moon in a dreary shadow. My Father and Gobber both eyed us with sharp disappointed glares. Of course we were hours late getting back to the village, worrying my Father and our teacher out of their wits. We were immediately interrogated as to our whereabouts, what had been going through our minds, and so on. We still hadn't even found the chance to tell them about the Romans... even about Toothless.

"You have no idea what we've been through!" Astrid continued.

"Yeah?" Gobber inquired, "Why don' ye' enlighten me!"

I became enraged at their obliviousness. "We were attacked by Romans!" I shouted, my hand flying to my mouth after I saw the shock on Gobber's and my Dad's face.

"What?" my Dad asked.

I sighed, hanging my head. "We went to a Roman-Dragonrustler ship, mistaking it for a peaceable fishing boat. We got on, and—," I couldn't continue. Astrid noticed this, immediately stepping in and finishing for me.

"Well, the Romans didn't like it. They fought hard, it was mess," she said, staring at the ground in lost thought, "Well it ended up Toothless, being protective…," My Father smiled slightly, Toothless's over-protectiveness being the only thing he liked about the dragon, "…followed us. If it wasn't for Toothless, we wouldn't be here right now. But," she took a deep breath, "but the Romans got him. And to add to it, they appeared to be Dragonrustlers, Chief."

My Father looked, well, emotionless. He probably didn't know what to feel. He wasn't always friends with Toothless, acquaintances at most, but like I said before, to him Toothless was just a body-guard for me. You wouldn't believe how protective Stoick was after the battle with the Red Death, it was like I had to die before he finally realized, 'Wait, I _**do**_love my son! Well this sucks, he just _**died**__."_ And so forth. Now to him, I was left vulnerable. Plus; I know for a fact he secretly adored that dragon... I've seen him feeding him meat from under the table... .

"I'm sorry son, I know how much you cared about, err, Toothless," he finally said, looking at me with pity.

I still couldn't manage the faintest of smiles, just gazed pathetically up at my towering Father with a grim expression.

"Yeah," I replied flatly, "I'm—," I thought about it a moment. I stared at the expressions of the three people surrounding me, all full of sympathy and worry. I still had to tell my Dad about the Romans' plan... but how could I when I couldn't even think straight? My mind was all a blur, like my brain was blundered, mixed-up and tangled together with various thoughts and feelings. I couldn't focus or see right.

Telling my Dad about the Romans' plan was going to wait.

"—I'm going to bed," I said with not the slightest bit of thought or feeling. I heard Gobber sigh at my attitude as I trudged off towards my house with angered, miserable steps.

I pushed on the door to my house, letting it swing open to reveal the lifeless, depressed-looking home. I sighed, going right for the stairs. I carefully climbed up them, watching my footing the whole way. I came to my dark, empty room at last, throwing my vest off and tossing it onto a chair. I slowly took the prosthetic off, keeping my blank stares focused on the wall the whole time. Finally I let the metal leg fall to the floor, sliding under the covers and letting my thoughts wonder.

Bad decision.

I realized how guilty **I** was of this, all this. The Romans were planning to attack Berk because they wanted me, obviously. Toothless was captured because of me, because I'm me and always able to find trouble, and now - and now... he may die. Toothless was going to die. **And it's all my fault**.

My eyes watered again at the thought, but I forced the tears back, refusing to cry.

And on top of it all, I wasn't sure if Toothless was truly my friend anymore. Now reader, don't go throw a hissy-fit and say I'm acting paranoid and stupid, cause I'm _not_. Everything the prefect had said was true, every word that left his mouth I questioned. The Night Furies are prideful creatures—I would know—pride goes in front. Flying _is _their pride, what truly sums them up. And right now, I am Toothless's flight ability. Any dragon would fight for that and protect it; the question is… is he protecting me or his flight? Some of you may say both, but think about it. I'm scrawny, weak, useless even. While Toothless is the king of the skies, powerful, has years stored up of knowledge, and, well, is _very prideful. _He told me it was rare when a Night Fury accepted a Rider because it showed weakness, but he insisted this was a different story and he didn't care; but him accepting _me_—of all people—as a Rider had to do _some_ damage to that status. Scratch that, _a lot. _How will I know what he truly thinks of me, or all humans for that matter? I probably sound stupid to you, pathetic even. But this bothers me… everyone feels hurt when we know we're being used, especially by someone close to us, like a _best friend _for example.

My free mind would not cease to stop all the pained wonders and thoughts, no matter how much my heart ached and stung.

Let's just say—no matter how much I wanted to, _really _wanted to, I had a restless, unsatisfying sleep that night.

**A/N: Yup, Toothless was dragon-knapped! Next chapter will be—erm—interesting, let's say. Thanks for reading! More reviews, the faster I get chapters up!**

**God Bless! Hope you had a safe and good Halloween ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yup. Last chapter was a real drama fest, unfortunately this one doesn't get much better : ( Yeahhhh. I'll add some of Hiccup's sarcastic remarks to lighten up the mood, k? ; )**

**Thank you, Toothless-the-Nightfury, for being an awesome beta! Seriously, this would probably suck without him. If you like this, read his stories!**

**Disclaimer: "YESSS! I finally own HTTYD! ALL MINE!" *wakes up* "Not again… ." *sobs***

_**Chapter 4**_

_**And it Just Keeps Falling…. .**_

_My life sucks_.

Well there's my gothic rant for the evening, stick around for our next segment of 'I Hate the World'! Coming soon, to a Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III near you!

Yeah, guess that pretty much sums up how I feel right now, no?

I got no sleep. I could feel the bags under my eyes practically tugging on my eyelids, '_Sleep….Sleep…. .' _they whispered tauntingly.But nothing of the sort came. I was still sad, guilt-filled, and now I was full-on exhausted. This is a type of exhaustion none of you have ever experienced before, and I pray you never have to. Not an ounce of beautiful sleep came to me, I was up all night tiring myself out worrying about my dragon and conflicting with my inner thoughts. I was raged at the world, and Odin knows if I was a dragon myself, the very walls that surround me now would be ash. But alas… I am not blessed with the gift of breathing fire.

Right, sorry. I'm probably being a bit of a downer. Why don't we focus on the good things in life!

Astrid's still alive. (THANK YOU GODS! I WILL NEVER SIN AGAINST YOU AGAIN!)

…..

….yeah that's it. No more good things

Odin bless the tough warrior girl. She's strong and hard on the outside – so… brawny? But on the inside, she's so heart-felt and caring, gentler than a flower. Like a geode. It has an outer-appearance that would push you away, and is used for destruction. But crack it open, and you'll find beautiful foggy-purple gems that you would never think could come from such a pimply looking rock. Not that Astrid was ugly—Gods not AT ALL—I'm talking about her personality of course. I don't even know how she puts up with me, of all people. So sensitive, clumsy, scrawny, weak, you know, all that jazz. Wow, real way to brighten up my morning, right?

But of course, I was jostled out of my thoughts by something I never, ever expected.

"_O Human Fatness that tried to devour me, Great Wobbling Vomit of Repulsive Man-Flesh… ."_

What on Earth was _that? _Was that—was that _singing?_ It was singing! But from where? I was up in an instant, pulling my prosthetic on and searching the room for the song, ears high on alert.

"_I cannot kill you now, though I would like to. But you will regret your mistakes, right in the quiet darkness of the nighttime. When you can do nothing…."_

Well that's another pleasant thought.

Wait: blubber man? Devour me? What in the name of Thor's Hammer was going on? The voice droned on about its evil plan of revenge, a singing sung in a voice so tiny and delicate I wouldn't be surprised if it was a mouse. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I rushed to my vest that sprawled over a chair, reaching my hand in the pocket and pulling out the singer of revenge and ruefulness. I was right. It was the dragon I had saved yesterday, the one that was trapped in the honey. I almost laughed at how the tiny creature continued singing about its power and how it would eat the fat Consul himself, yet it was no bigger than my thumb. I frowned deeply at the little dragon, now more annoyed then anything.

"Umm, excuse me? Little dragon, person, thing?" I interrupted, earning an insulted puff from the dragon.

_"What a rude, __ugly__, little speck of a human life-form. Interrupting me! My beautiful voice probably sounds like squabbles to a pea-brain like him. Hmph. Such a commoner. Like I care. He can deal with my singing!" _the dragon retorted foully, flicking his chin in the air.

My mouth hung agape at the little creature's hatred for me; I barely knew him! It's not like I saved his freak'n life or anything! I would think he would be a little more thankful towards me.

"Hey! I saved your life; instead of insulting me, why not try thank-you!" I argued back, placing my hand that wasn't holding the little dragon on my hip.

He was astounded that I could understand him, his eyes wide and almost fearful. _"How can you understand me, mortal?" _he demanded.

I rolled my eyes, lifting the Dragon Stone out from under my tunic and presenting it to the arrogant dragon.

His scales flickered a brilliant red glint as if it was aflame, and his jaw dangled open. _"T-the Dragon Stone," _his eyes shot a hard look towards me, confusion and slight anger glimmering in his pupils, _"How did you get that, boy!" _It was not a question. It was a demand.

I felt my blood start to heat, irritated enough with my life and this little _thing _wasn't helping! "How do you think! I followed the stupid riddle and low'n'behold, I'm the freak'n heir to Grimbeard the Ghastly!" I spat, glaring at the oh-so-great dragon. It may have been a bit harsh but I'm not feeling too charitable right now.

_"You speak with such hatred," _wonder why…... "_do you not know whom you've had the pleasure of saving?"_

I scoffed, glancing at the ceiling and putting on a fake smile. "No, _whom, _oh powerful one, have I saved?"

He smirked, pointing his chin in the air as a satisfied gesture. _"That's more like it, human. Now," he sniffed, "I, am the great Ziggerastica! The loved King of all the Nanodragons! Surely, you must already know __me__….. ."_

"Actually, no I don't."

_"WHAT!" _he bellowed.Boy did I say the wrong thing. _"You really don't know me? Ziggerastica greatest King there ever was, isn't that familiar at all?"_

I cocked an eyebrow, staring at the mad dragon with confusion. "Doesn't ring any bells…. ."

He huffed with irritation, his little red face becoming an even deeper shade of scarlet. _"I should smite thee just for not knowing!" _he took a deep breath, displaying his hands out in front of him to calm himself, "_But I won't. You have saved my life, ugly human-child, and I am in debt of thee. I owe you one and only one thing. Whenever you will like to take up this offer or are in mortal danger, just say my name and I will hear you and come."_

I rolled my eyes again, sighing. "How will you possibly hear me if you're miles away?"

His eyes glistened with knowledge, he snickered slightly. _"I will hear you man-child, trust me. You have a King's word."_

"Well—thanks, I think," I said warily.

_"Thee should feel honored to have such a promise from a King," _the Nanodragon retorted defiantly.

I smirked, "If you're so great, how did you get caught by the Romans?"

_"Ahhh," _he breathed, licking his fingers, _"it is the honey! My true weakness, I'm afraid. The taste is so sweet and rich, who could resist?"_

I small smile formed on my lips, I liked the nice and wise Ziggerastica better than the proud, rude one. "Yeah, I guess you're right," I commented, even though I really didn't like honey, truthfully. But I don't want a steaming Nanodragon giving me reasons to like it.

_"Of course I am!" _He looked me up and down, his eyes taking in every inch of my body, _"You know, thee is not too horrible for a human."_

I smiled sincerely at this. "Thank you."

_"Even if you are ugly, with a round nose, and little very displeasing brown spots all over your face…. ."_

"Those are freckles!"

_"Well I don't like them. Very hurtful to my eye, actually. Well, I bid you farewell, ugly-yet-nice-man-child-thing. Stay safe, call me once and __only__ once. Take care,"_ he said, bowing to me. I awkwardly waved back, watching the little Nanodragon flutter out of the window with a beat of his tiny, rosy wings. I touched my cheek, my cold fingers feeling good across my warm cheeks.

"Are they really that bad looking?"

O~~~~~~O

A short while after my little… talk with the Nanodragon, I found my way downstairs with my heart lagging behind. Of course the little incident with the Ziggerastica had distracted me from, well, you know. But now that the little, irritable dragon was gone…. .I was almost considering using his debt to me just to distract myself. But the all-mighty King wouldn't appreciate that, now would he?

My Father was sitting at the table, chewing on who knows what, a very grave and solemn expression tattooed on his face. He saw me, and instantly smiled a greeting.

"Hello son, sleep well?"

I just smiled with no heart or emotion, that smile you use when someone's embarrassing or picking on you, barely nodding my head. My Father picked up the message, frowning slightly and a tired look fogging into his eyes. "Too worried and upset, son?" he asked.

I heaved a giant sigh, as if letting all my feelings out, and nodded again, puckering my lips. I missed Toothless on a new scale of sadness. He bobbed his head up and down in response, standing up and walking his way over to me. He put a beefy hand on my shoulder, looking straight into my eyes. "It'll be ok, Hiccup. In due time. What does a chief feel?"

I sighed, looking to the side wall as if _that _would help me. "A chief feels no pain, Dad," I droned, repeating what my Dad had told me the day my Mother had died. He had no idea how much that statement was complete _[insert rude word for bull feces here]_.

He smiled proudly. "Good."

I took his hand off my shoulder, becoming serious. "Dad, I need to tell you something—about the Romans."

His features contorted into a worried, yet thoughtful expression. "What lad?"

"The Romans, they said something about Berk. Dad, I think they're coming here in a few days, it must be part of—some master plan or something. I don't know, but before they do, we should probably find a way to rescue Toothless. Maybe get a couple of ships to invade th—."

"Whoa whoa whoa—what do you mean Hiccup?" he interfered, stopping me in my tracks.

"Well, we gotta rescue Toothless. I thought if we got a couple hundred Vikings, we should be able to take them. And then—"

"Hiccup, stop."

I felt my whole face fall, the blood flowing into my cheeks. "W-what?"

"Stop, son. Just stop. Hiccup, I really don't know how to tell you this! We—we can't rescue the devil—"

**"Toothless! His name is **_**Toothless!**_**"** I shouted, feeling anger and rage bubble down in my core.

"Right. Toothless, sorry. But—we can't rescue him Hiccup. It's…. .too much of a risk. I'm not risking a hundred of my Villagers for one dragon. I can't do it," he explained gently, his eyes full of sympathy.

Me on the other hand….. .Ha ha. Well isn't that a different story!

"Why? That makes no sense! He risked his life to save all of you, and me! He's saved me a countless number of times—"

"Hiccup calm down. You have to understand—"

"—no Dad! Listen to me, please! I—he—it's not fair! Why can't we?" I protested, narrowing my eyes.

He almost laughed at my question. "Why? I just told you!"

"Yeah? Well what if it were me instead of him, huh? Would you risk all your Villagers then! Please, do explain!" I spat, looking harshly into his eyes.

"Hiccup!" he stomped to me, placing his hands non-too gently on my shoulders, a fierce gaze focused on my own eyes, "You are my son, of course I would!" he ran a hand down my head, my small skull nearly fitting into his giant palm, "You're all I got left, Hiccup. And this tribe cares for you too, whether you see it or not. You are their heir."

I scoffed, "Yeah, well why don't you take that up with some of the other Villagers then? See what they—"

"Do not interrupt me! And yes, I do know of the conflict between them. But you are part of this tribe none the less, part of the brother-hood. This tribe protects you, and you know that," he finished, his face grim.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, cheeks puffing out with stubbornness. "Yes, I know, but Toothless should be no different! The dragons are part of that brother-hood now too, Dad! I, we can't just leave him! He trusts me!"

"I know, Hiccup," he eased, "but I don't know what to tell you. We can't do anything, it's not in our power."

"Well what are you going to do about their plan, then!" I yelled, balling hands into fists.

"Plan? Hiccup, you probably heard wrong, son."

I felt my insides freeze, my stomach turning into a familiar rock I promised never to see again.

He didn't believe me…

"Y-you don't believe me?" I stammered.

His face look hurt, he looked at me like a helpless puppy. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. But I can't, I wasn't there, I didn't hear what you heard. But right now the Romans have no reason to be attacking us; especially if news has gotten around that we have dragons. And there was only one ship, right?" I nodded. "Well a whole ship can't take a whole village _plus _their dragons," he finished with a nod, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry."

"I—I—I," I started stuttering, dumbfounded. My teeth dug into my lip, my nails piercing my palms as I clenched my fists. With a final glare, I stomped to the door, making sure they were heard, and flung it open.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here. I'm done with you"

I slammed the door shut behind me.

O~~~~~~O

Distractions. People usually hate them, but right now, that's what I need. That's what I want, I guess is more like it. So that's probably why I found myself trudging my way to training, even though that's probably the second to last place I wanted to be. But it's a distraction none the less, and that's what I want - need.

Astrid immediately spotted me, no doubt watching for me in the first place. Her eyebrows shot up, and she sprinted over to me. "Why are you here, Hiccup? You should probably be home, you're in no condition to be handling anything even remotely sharp."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I know Astrid, but—but right now I really, really want a distraction, k?"

She frowned, sympathy flooding into her eyes. She nodded, pulling the tiniest bit of smile for me. Then Ruffnut came by….. .

"OH MY GODS, HICCUP!" And then EVERYBODY saw me. Well, I would be cussing, but I promised the Gods I wouldn't sin against them anymore. Well !#$%!.

"Hiccup!" Ruffnut continued, at the top of her lungs (!#$%!) "I'm so sorry to hear about Toothless! I mean if it were my dragon, oh Gods I wouldn't even be able to live with myself! I mean really, that dragon always risks his own life for yours a lot doesn't he? Well all our dragons risk their lives for us, but you know none of them have died yet, so—"

Tuffnut's fist slapped against the back of her head, causing her to jerk forward. She shot a glare at him, but when Tuffnut indicated me with his head she automatically realized she was _only making it ten-times worse_ and shut-up. Tuffnut then stepped forward with a small frown.

"Sorry to hear about, you-know-who, Hic." I was totally taken off guard when the tone of his voice was drenched with sympathy.

"Yeah—thanks, Tuff."

"Yeah," he trailed off, looking at the ground, "the Gods seem so determined to split you two up, huh?"

Ruffnut stomped on his foot. Hard. He squealed in pain, realizing his mistake and mumbling a sorry. I pressed my lips together, and just nodded. Then they started bickering ("You didn't need to hit me!" "You didn't need to stomp on my foot!" A couple of punches to the gut later….. .), and I felt all the energy drain out of me like a quick tide. Coming here was probably the worst idea I've had—so far, anyway.

"_Wow, _Hiccup actually came here without his _dragon? _Oh wait, I forgot—he doesn't have a dragon anymore."

Never mind. Worst idea _ever._

I kept my back to the sneering voice of Dogsbreath, while Astrid placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and faced Dogsbreath with a grim expression.

"What do _you_ want?" she demanded, burning a glare at his fat neck.

"What?" his voice mocked, "I just want Hiccup to know how sorry I am to hear about Gutless!"

I whipped around, fires blazing in my eyes. "_**Toothless**__! _His name is Gods forsaken _**Toothless**__!" _I snarled, getting a shocked look from watchers.

Dogsbreath open his lips in an 'O' form, speechless at the ferocity in my voice. Then he let out a heavy laugh, holding his hands up in an innocent manner. "Whoa whoa _whoa! _No need to get feisty, now!"

I narrowed my eyes another degree, if possible. "Well then go away, and maybe I'll smile," I retorted, taking out the stress of the past two days on Dogsbreath. He deserved it.

He howled with forced laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "Oh, wow. You sure are defensive without the black cat around here, now, huh?" he teased, an evil glint in his eye.

My nails once again found my palms. "He could've taken you down with one blast of fire. Not many cats can do that," I said.

"Yeah…. ." he drawled, "and yet he never did, did he? Cause he was weak, a pathetic excuse for a dragon. Couldn't even fly—" I made to protest, but he continued in a louder voice. "—oh, wait. He could, totally forgot! That was the _only_ reason he hung around a pathetic excuse like you."

The nearly forgotten memory of what the Prefect said came running back, playing over and over again in my mind until it brought insanity.

_"Once someone comes along that's better than you and who can control that fin," He laughed again, "GODS! I wouldn't be surprised if you got rid of you __HIMSELF!__"_

The snarling, creepy, sandy voice repeated. Over and over and over. It was menacing, it was intimidating, it was—it was—terrifying. I didn't know what to think of it. My body was becoming numb with hatred, my arms were vibrating with the effort not to rip his throat out. I felt my blood boiling; for a while I convinced myself it was. This whole tingling sensation of anger and stress was prickling its way through my veins like a million sewing needles looking for a good place to start. I'm never this moody; Gods I feel like some pregnant girl. I blame the prefect, life, lack of sleep, and Dogsbreath.

Always blame Dogsbreath.

"_Oh," _the beast of a boy snarled, smiling a crooked, toothy smirk, "so even you know it's true. HA! Oh Odin, this is too much. He knew! Hear me, he knew the dragon never cared about him!" he bellowed, gesturing at me and wildly looking around the ring for a partner to laugh at my pity, "Wow. Just, wow. Well, don't worry now Hiccup, he's not coming back. Ever. I wonder what the Romans did to him…. ."

My fingers were aching I was squeezing my fists so hard, I felt my throat dry up just at the mention. Because, the only reason Dogsbreath would mention it, was to list all that could happen. Anything that would upset me, and right now that'd do a pretty good job, don't 'cha think?

"I swear on the all-mighty Gods, Dogsbreath, _if you say one more word—"_ I growled, advancing on him. Astrid grabbed my shoulder, easing me back. She shook her head.

"Maybe as a slave—then again, he didn't even have the guts to kill me, so he's probably not even strong enough—"

"_Shut-up_," I hissed, Astrid gripping my shoulder harder.

"He can't fly without you, hmm, he must feel like real crap. Trapped in the Rome….possibly dead… his Rider didn't even _**try**_to save him…" he continued, sniggering.

My cheeks flared. "_That's not __true__!_" Iprotested, Astrid now grabbing my arm also.

"Oh, really?" he inquired. "Well if you did, well you probably wouldn't be here right now. Or you'd at least be here with your dragon, a very minimal chance. But no, instead the _powerful_ Night Fury's probably being tortured, starved, weeping maybe… he always was a weakling," he said, showing his canines.

Now I was fighting against Astrid's grip, the rest of the trainees standing dumbfounded around me. "Not as weak as you!" I shouted.

"Hmm, yeah I guess. Whatever. Poor thing, his Rider abandons him, not that he ever cared about his precious human in the first place, but still. I never thought you had it in you, Hiccup. Finally some heartless-ness! Just like a real Viking! Abandoning the dragon that saved you many times, leaving him to his tortured, slow, painful death? Genius! Really great job," he mocked, his eyes glinting with pleasure.

I growled, fighting against Astrid harder. She gasped with the surprised effort she had to use to hold me back, but finally she yanked my whole body back and took my face in her hands.

"It's not worth it."

I considered her words for all but a moment, looking between the devil boy and Astrid. My mind unfortunately decided she was right, letting her clutch my arm, turn my back to Dogsbreath, and slump out of the ring. Lucky him…. .

"He had pretty scales, though—"

Astrid and I both froze, dumbfounded at the sudden compliment from Dogsbreath. If only I realized sooner what that compliment could build up to.

"—they'll look better as a Roman purse, anyway."

I'm pretty sure I heard some gasps. Snotlout scolded Dogsbreath. Astrid's eyes were wide, her mouth dangling open. I glared softly at her, sending her a silent, clear message. She understood, glaring back at me as a confirmation. She slowly let go of my arm.

_"Rip his eyes out."_

I launched myself at Dogsbreath, tackling him to the ground with a significant thud. He half-gasped half-laughed at the sudden attack, instinctively throwing his fist at my cheek. He connected hard, sending stinging vibrations up my whole head. I snarled, punching him straight in the nose, drawing blood to my pleasure. He growled, surprised I even got a shot at him, and the burly boy flipped us over so he was on top of me, pinning my arms down with his knees. I struggled against the hold, receiving encouraging cheers from the other trainees, who all knew this was _my _fight and _my _fight alone. Dogsbreath sneered, the corner of his mouth turning up into a disgusting grin. I scowled, glaring at Dogsbreath, praying to the Gods my harsh glares would literally burn him. He smirked again, and spit in my eye. I gagged as the thick saliva hit my eye, barring my teeth in hatred. Then I knew what to do – use my _disadvantage_ to my _advantage_… with a quick, swift movement, I kicked my metal prosthetic_ right where it hurts. _Get where I'm going here?

He squeaked, falling to the side and breathing heavily. I smiled. _That's right… wither in pain. Wither….wither….._

Whoa. That was a little dark, not sure I like the dark side of me. It's kinda—scary. And mentally sick. Yup, don't like dark-side Hiccup... .

But before even a normal man should be able to revive himself after a kick like that (metal prosthetic, I repeat), he was up and hurling a balled fist at my eye. I reared back on impact, feeling the blue/black bruise start to blossom across my left eye. I clutched it with both hands, heaving heavy breaths of sweet oxygen. My conscience told me to stop, but just the thought of Toothless's name threw me back into the fight. I burned a hole into the smirking boy, coming back with my own attack and swinging my fist straight into his gut. As Dogsbreath puckered his lips and clutched his abdomen; I heard whoops and cheers of joys at his pain.

Yeah…maybe I'll be dark Hiccup just for a _smidge _longer.

He breathed out a laugh, as if this were a game, and before I could react he threw his body into my stomach and we both met the harsh dirt painfully. He slapped me right across the cheek, where he had punched me before, the new bruise screeching at the harsh contact. I yelped in pain, earning a satisfied grin from Dogsbreath. I whapped at his throat, hitting hard and knocking the breath right from out of him. Taken off guard, I used this advantage and flipped us so I was pinning him down.

"Why you little—!" he jeered, trying to throw a pinned fist at my other eye. Instead of preparing for the blow, I took my right fist and hit him, _**hard,**_ across the face. Twice. Just before the third strike, I found myself hanging in the air.

Totally confused, I looked to my left to see Gobber. Great timing… Not. He had the back of my shirt hooked on his metal arm, commanding Dogsbreath to stand up in a harsh voice I never liked hearing. Dogsbreath stood warily, eyeing me. Gobber grabbed the back of his shirt, his own glare piecing through us like a dagger. Dogsbreath and I stared grimly at each other, hyperventilating and clutching our new wounds with disgust. I have t o say, I was quite proud of the fact that Dogsbreath was in a much worse state than I was.

"What ar' ye' two doin!" Gobber demanded, shaking us slightly.

Dogsbreath wasn't going to answer, which was clear after the first couple of moments of strong silence, so I took a shaky breath and answered for him. "We got in a fight, he was insulting Toothless" I dead-panned.

"We 'ourse yoo' did. And 'f I see yoo' two fightin' like dat again, there 'ill be severe consequences! I should be tellin' Stoick, your Father would 'ave a heart-attack, Hiccup!" he warned in a stern shout, shaking us more. I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I kicked my legs, motioning to be let down. He reluctantly unhooked my shirt, watching me curiously.

"Yeah, figured that," I replied bleakly.

I kept my gaze down, and my pace quick. I briskly stomped out of the training arena, and going to my sweet confinement of the forest.

The air had a sweaty, moist taste to it. It eventually became a chore just to inhale it. The forest was, as always, a blanker grey of wood, blanker than the background of the village. Not that this bothered me, I was used to it of course. Growing up alone with no friends; I was here most of the time. Why stay in a village where you're not wanted? Or where you don't want to be? The answer's pretty clear, so I'm not going to bother to mention it. I heard birds chirp a false, joyful melody in the distance, the leaves blowing with the wind and slowly spiraling downward onto the moist dirt. I scrunched my nose up at the sight; it reminded me what I felt like. Everything was just spiraling downward into a tornado of a mess, just to eventually be stepped on and rubbed into the dirt where it'll disintegrate away into nothing. Again with the dark, mopey side—oh burn it. Who cares anymore?

And now, of course, I was lost. Surrounded by shadowing trees that seemed to cackle as the wind brushed against their leaves. Now I'm going mad, **great**. Just what I needed. I stared helplessly at the tall pines and oaks, wishing they actually were alive and laughing at me just so I could as them the way out. But nope, they just circled around me and taunted me with their, un-live-y-ness. Weird way to put it, I know, but still.

I heard something rustle behind me.

I whipped around, arms spread out in a defensive mode. I met nobody, which strangely made my gut scream.

'_Get out of here… .'_

I let out a trembling breath, still staring in the distance the rustling had emitted from. I gulped, gazing into the open, foggy space warily, but with pure curiosity. The wonder grew and grew, until the fact my brain didn't know what was going on became too much for it. I felt frightened.

"Excuse me?"

"_Gah!" _I yelped, jumping around to meet the foreign voice.

I took a sigh of relief at the innocent looking man standing there. He had a muscly build, a rather large nose that looked like it had been scrunched up most of his life, and hairy arms that waved in a surrendering manner.

"Oh," I breathed, clutching my chest, "I'm sorry—you kinda scared me there. Uh, yes? Is something wrong?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in thought. This man had to be from the village, why would he be out here if he wasn't? He seemed familiar, vaguely. So I must know him from somewhere.

"Oh, sorry to give you a fright there lad, I didn't mean to scare you. Just looking for something… ."

"Hm, well I can probably help you. What are you looking for?" I asked, trying to be generous.

"Well, _someone _actually," he replied, looking to me.

"I can definitely help you there, then. I probably know everybody; who is it you're looking for?" I asked, smiling.

"Ohhh—no one in particular, really," he said, scratching his chin.

"Well who?"

His face became grim and dark, like the shadow of Loki was casted down upon his face. He smirked, raising my suspicions and frightening me further.

_"__You__."_

Then, to my horror, I recognized the man.

The Roman guard that had threatened Astrid.

I turn to run, sprint away from him. But a grimy hand wound around my neck and pulled me back. I tried to scream for help, or even just yelp in surprise. His next words horrified me, still to this very day.

"Night night."

Something hard and blunt struck the middle of my head. I immediately saw stars, gripping and scratching at the hand harder as if to stay with reality. The pain streamed through out my whole head, distributing out so that it eventually became unbearable. Fuzzy, black images framed my vision, yet it was welcomed. The peace I began to feel, the slipping into the unconscious world where my hurting head would stop… it sounded so nice.

Everything, went black.

**A/N: Well that was long. Sorry, I really did get goth on this. I've had some hard times this week, which reflected a little too much in my writing. I'm so sorry : ( Forgive me? And I really want some critiquing done on this, I want to improve my writing to its full extent, but I need help. Can you review and tell me what you think I need to improve on, please? More reviews, the faster the next chapter will get up!**

**WARNING: Updates will be getting less frequent, due to the fact I'm racing my friend to see who can finish the Harry Potter series first. Any fans out there? Anyway, be rooting for me! : )**

*******God bless!*******


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sup ^^ I know I'm really late, but hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!**

**Ok, so I got this idea from another author and due to the fact I'm almost out of prompts and like reviews… .I decided to try it. The person whom submits the 50****th**** review will get a one-shot. Anything of their choice, any pairing, funny, drama, angst, but it can't be rated M. The review **_**has to be signed **_**though. So, I'll get a prompt and reviews. Two in one ;) Ok, so I'll shut-up now and get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: *drills hole in head***

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Dark Ghosts**_

It was so _dark. _Like a never ending tunnel; a spiraling tunnel. My head was screeching in pain, Gods I feel _sick. _What was going on? Was it nighttime? It couldn't of been… could it? I felt myself trembling as the cold winds tore across my bare, aching skin. I curled in on myself, trying to subdue the pain and resistant the chilly gale, but before I could stop it, a pained moan had escaped my throat.

"Looks like he's up," A harsh, scruffy voice taunted.

I bit my lip, trying to see past the whirling images to decipher where I was. My body wasn't moving, yet I was. I felt myself thrashing up and down with a sickening lurch that made me want to vomit. I must be on a boat; why am I on a boat? I tried to sit up, but I realized I couldn't move my hands. This was all so frustrating; I'm so confused! I kept my eyes shut tight, afraid of what I would see when I opened them. I heard the deep voice erupt into hard laughter.

"Aw, poor Viking can't get up? _Good_."

I gulped, still trying just to compose my body. Determined, my eyes flickered open.

I was surrounded by wood, sprays of ice-y ocean water gushing up from the sides. So I must be on a boat, I have to be on a boat. I moved my head up an inch, praying to see any sight of land over the wooden walls. But instead there was nothing but a boring grey that seem to cover the entire world, giving it a dark and gloomy feel that made my stomach crinkle. I flinched as a particularly large drop of salt water splashed against my cheek. I heard more cackles of amusement, and heavy foot-falls strut their way toward me.

A grimy, disgusting face filled my vision. "Be a man, Viking. It's just water," he snarled, kicking my gut for good measure.

I withered in pain, trying to cave in on myself but the aches told me otherwise. I lay their miserably, breathing heavy and trying to remember what in Odin's name was going on.

Pain…

Black…

_ "Well, some__one__ actually," he replied, looking to me._

_ "I can definitely help you there, then. I probably know everybody; who is it you're looking for?" I asked, smiling._

_ "Ohhh—no one in particular, really," he said, scratching his chin._

_ "Well who?"_

_ His face became grim and dark, like the shadow of Loki was casted down upon his face. He smirked, raising my suspicions and frightening me further._

_ "__You__."_

Romans…

The memory was almost overwhelming. More like the giant, freezing waves from the dark ocean then a memory. I must be on my way to Rome… .Oh Gods.

I felt all energy whirl out of me as the feeling of dread and hopelessness blanketed my entire mind. This really _sucked. _I'm going to Rome, full of Romans that despise Vikings, oh and I'm a Viking. Well, I think it's safe to say I'm _screwed. _

Toothless…

I felt a spark of hope as I remembered the name of the giant, scaly creature. Maybe I'll get to see Toothless… or maybe—maybe—I won't? The pit of my stomach twisted at the thought. What if I see, morethan I want? What if—would they—no. I decided not to work myself up right now, I couldn't. My brain wouldn't let me; my head was throbbing enough just thinking about thinking about seeing _that—_a new sprout of pain burst through my entire skull like a firework, so I kept focus on the grey clouds that sniggered above me, watching the puffy wisps slide past me and leave me to the Romans.

I was shaken out of my self-pity when I felt the boat come to an abrupt stop, encasing itself in something mushy and wet sounding. I heard the hard steps make their way towards me once again, and a hand clutched at my upper arm, then with a harsh yank flung me onto my feet. I cringed at the horrible aches that my left leg let off, nearly collapsing on the spot. The Roman slammed his hand on my back, his scratchy voice commanding me to move. I stumbled forward, nearly face-planting in the unstable sand. I heard the guard growl behind me, irritated with my clumsiness, no doubt. I immediately straightened up, glancing back nervously and digging my teeth into my lower lip. The ropes on my wrists were burrowing into my flesh; my skin was tingling with irritation like little pin-pricks testing me, seeing how long before they drew blood and killed me… which wouldn't be long.

The Roman Guards stomped forward and seized me by the arms, almost dragging me the rest of the way. I grinded my teeth together, glaring at the ground and wishing that something—_anything—_would just, just—happen. I don't know what, and it's a confusing statement, even to me! But, I don't know, if anything would happen—_good or bad—_it would halt my baffling, troubling thoughts and maybe give me time to just _think _y'know?

Seeing my daze, the other guard shook my arm harshly, trying to get my attention. "Quit yer daydream'n, Viking," he hissed, barring his yellow-rotting teeth.

I narrowed my eyes at him, biting my tongue before saying something I knew I would regret later. We approached a gigantic wall made of a reflecting black brick that stood tall with a jaunting authority and terrifying bleakness. I could feel my jaw drop slightly as I pointed my eyes up at the fifty-foot prison. I felt the guards tighten their grip on my arms as the iron black gate slowly rose with creaks and squeaks that built up more anxiety in the pit of my stomach. I wriggled my wrists uncomfortably, causing the rope to slice my bare skin more. I stifled a hiss of pain, cringing. The gate finally stopped at the top with a vibrating clank, and the guards shoved me through.

What I saw inside still disgusts me to this day.

It was so much like the dragonrustler ship; dragons everywhere doing everything. So many dragons looked so worn and tired, I could feel my heart fall with their spirits. A countless number of them were wounded; bleeding with scars I knew would haunt them forever. We never treated our dragons this bad, even when we hated them; I'm sure even the few number of people that still hate them in Berk would find this sickening. I flinched as I heard the crack of a whip, a pained wail, and the commands of a cruel man. I stared with round eyes full of shock and fright, not noticing the door we were approaching.

I jumped in surprise when the Roman Guard banged a fist on the old, rotting wooden door, causing the metal ring to rattle up and down. A mocking, wispy, sandy voice answered back.

"Yes?"

It was the prefect.

"We have the boy, sir."

A cunning cackle rang through the door. "Bring him in."

The guard pulled his mouth up into a sly smirk, before throwing open the door in a satisfied gesture and hauling me inside. Both guards threw me to the ground, my knees contacting hard with the stone floor. I closed my eyes tight, breathing heavy and hard when my stump started to ache all over again. I slowly looked up, my bangs acting as a curtain and shielding part of my eyes. There, sitting right in front of me and drumming his fingers on what looked to be a sort of 'throne', was the prefect. He had his helmet on, once again protecting nose up from view. I saw his lips twitch into a sneer, and he slowly cocked his head to the side.

"Never thought you'd see me again, did you, Hiccup?" he asked, a mocking tone in his voice.

I pressed my lips together, narrowing my eyes at the stony ground. He sniggered, standing up and walking slowly towards me. "Your silence is a no, yes? Well I'm taking it as one," he snarled, showing his teeth and looking as if he wanted to drive his foot into my gut.

I huffed, squinting my eyes further and rubbing the tips of my teeth together. I opened my mouth, taking a deep breath of the chilly, salty air and preparing to speak. "What do you want," my raspy voice demanded; I did not even bother to make it sound like a question.

He burst into daunting cackles, taking a step back and swinging his one arm out as if presenting himself. "You don't know yet, do you? Really Hiccup, I thought you were smarter than _that," _he jeered, his thin chapped lips climbing up into a smirk.

My eye brows furrowed together, confused and utterly annoyed. He laughed again, bringing his hand to his face and rubbing his hidden temples. Then, with a final sneer and swift flick of the wrist, he knocked his helmet off.

The black fuzziness returned to my vision, my mouth hung open like a guppy's, and my eyes were stinging they were so wide with shock and fear. My body was completely numb now, from the amount of shock or cold I'll never know. I clenched my fists behind my back in dread, wriggling my wrists more. There were so many things I would have liked to have said, none of which I wish to repeat to you, dear reader.

"Surprise… ." he mocked in a monotone whisper.

Alvin the Treacherous.

Alvin the God dam Treacherous.

No… .It's not true. He can't be back; he can't! H-how? He was dead, he was gone… .this isn't happening. How can it be? And what was weirder was the fact he was _bald; _no hair at all! Just a shiny head and no more mustache! It makes no sense. I _saw _his dead body—I _saw _the transparent creature swallow his limp form—this is too strange. It's like… all of the sudden I'm drowning in this _fake _fog and can't find my way out again. Calling for help, but hearing my own confused voice answer back. Choking on the surrounding smog, feeling hopeless; _useless._ This is some sick joke of a nightmare, I hope Loki's enjoying himself…

"How?" I asked, barely hearing myself.

He smiled casually this time; he had obviously prepared himself for telling this story to me. I bit my lip, refusing the urge to scream. "Well… ." he began, sheathing his sword and pacing back and forth, letting the blade scratch against the smooth stones, "you see; after you _left_ me to _die—_"

"That's not true!" I shouted all of the sudden. As if it would do anything.

Then he continued as if nothing had happened. "—I woke up in the beast's stomach. I was not _dead _when he swallowed me," he said darkly, glaring at me, "simply knocked out. And, naturally, I did what anyone would've done in a situation like that… I used this sword here," he held up the weapon, making it shine disgustingly, "and cut my way out of that rancid devil's stomach. Afraid to say he didn't make it…"

I wrinkled my nose in repulsion, biting the inside of my lip hard enough to give me sores.

"I traveled the caverns for who knows how long, until finally finding a shorter route to the top. And barely—_just barely—_was able to swim to the surface of the water. But—" he scoffed, raising a hand in the air and looking at me stupidly, "—guess what? MY TRIBE! Ohhhhh, my tribe! _**SHUN**_ _**ME**__! _Kicked out of my tribe! **Not** **fit** to be chief, they said, too—oh you won't believe this—**power**-**crazed**! And, well, the acids in that wretched beast made all my hair fall out. Just another _pathetic _reason to kick me out," he finished, his jaw set tight.

I glared, drumming my fingers together behind my back from anticipation. "So what are you doing here?" I hissed, barely moving my mouth to speak.

"Hmmm… well ends up I have some _Roman blood _in me; lucky aren't I? And, of course, the Romans just couldn't resist my—er—proposition," he said, walking closer with a sneer painted on his face. How I would've loved to just sand-paper that smirk right off… Then have Toothless burn it. And then burn those ashes.

"Why do you need me?" I whispered, staring distantly at the ground.

He didn't even answer. I saw him ball his hands into fists, then stomp right up to me, the loud steps echoing through the room, and hooked his hook around the Dragon Stone, pulling it up high enough to choke me. I made a pained, strangled noise, finding it hard to breathe.

"_This is why. _I plan on getting the treasure. And _you're _not gonna stop me." He ripped the Dragon Stone off my neck, getting another pained yip from me. He smiled with satisfaction, placing it around his own neck. "But you play more than one role, Hiccup. You're my distraction," he said nastily.

"Why do you need a distraction?" I asked quietly.

He flung his hook up, and started pacing again. "I have the Bog Burglar heir, too. A nasty little witch…" he snarled. The Bog Burglars' was a tribe of all girls; a _very_ toughtribe of all girls. Like a hundred angry Astrid's. I shudder at the thought… . "And right now, _your _Father is getting a letter from the Bog Burglar's, blaming your tribe of their heir's kidnapping, so, it says they kidnapped _you _as revenge_. _The Bog Burglar chief should be getting a similar letter. And being the angry Vikings that they are… well, I expect bloodshed." I felt my insides harden as anger started to boil over. "And now, with this stone," he held up the stone proudly, letting it gleam in the light, "I plan on using all the dragons in Berk and the Bog Burglar islands to get the treasure for me!"

I laughed.

He glared at me, letting go of the necklace and briskly walking towards me again. He grabbed me around the neck. "_What?" _he hissed through his teeth.

"It won't work," I said once he released my neck.

"Why!" he barked.

"Why do you think? Can't you remember that only Grimbeard's _true heir_ can use the Dragon Stone? It said it in the riddle!" I retorted.

His eyes flashed all of the sudden. "Can you use it?"

I took a deep breath, not wanting to tell him the truth. "I—what—I—uh—"

"Can you use it!" he demanded, advancing on me.

I narrowed my eyes. "No," I replied bleakly.

He stayed silent for a moment, just staring at me with his beady eyes full of hate. "Liar."

"I don't—!"

He seized my neck again, his face just inches from mine. He spoke quickly, like a mad man. "I know you can use it or you wouldn't have pointed it out! Try to be smart-alecky again, see what happens!" he snarled, spit flying everywhere. I had to use sever self-control to not wipe it of my face in an insulting manner. Gods I hated this man.

I gulped, and it got quiet again. He never let go of my neck, so the only sound throughout the room was my heavy breathing.

"What do we do now, sir?" one of the guards asked.

Alvin threw down my neck, making me fall to the ground. "I don't know," he growled, "put him with the girl until I find out."

The guards walked forward, each grabbing one of my arms and heaving me on my feet. I started to struggle; I wasn't done talking to Alvin yet. "Wait! Where's Toothless? Can't you let him go, he didn't do anything to you!" I protested, making the guards freeze.

Alvin smiled menacingly. "Not true. He protects _you, _and d'you remember when I said I _always_ keep promises I make to myself? When you left me, I promised to get back at you _even if I die trying. _That beast makes things complicated. Plus he set me on fire… ." he dazed off, "Take him away!"

I let out a heavy breath, losing all hope. "**I wanna see him!**" I burst out.

Alvin smiled again, his lips dangerously reaching his ears. He held up his hook, and started to pull his sleeve away. "Sure…" he said. He pulled the sleeve all the way down to reveal a dark, familiar, ebony layer of skin. "Like my new glove?"

My eyes horrifically gazed at Toothless's skin, covering Alvin's hand… .

I wanted to punch him. _HARD._

He waved us off, leaving me in a boiling daze of hatred and fury. Not to mention overwhelming guilt and sadness.

O~~~~~~O

After walking who knows how long, the guards had dragged me to a dingy cell, full of mold and dirt and many other things… .

One of them took off the ropes around my wrists; I rubbed them graciously as I saw the bleeding flesh. They opened the cell's wooden, bolted door, tossing me in like I was little less than a rag doll. They forcefully slammed the door, making it rattle dangerously.

I stayed on the ground, letting me pity myself. Toothless was dead; I saw his hide on Alvin's arm… .this can't be happening. Not after all we've been through. The dragon was my brother; my best friend! A silent tear rolled down my cheek, remembering all the memories of Toothless. I really wanted to sob, I was so overwhelmed and in pain and exhausted. But I wasn't going to let myself; I couldn't let the Romans hear me and think me weak. But I really miss him… .I want my best friend back. A heavy, shaky breath filled my lungs as a weight seemed to attach itself to my heart and my tears as they slowly began to maximize. Toothless, my best friend was dead. Dead. I wanna go flying and make sure he knows he's not a beast, I wanna tell him sorry! This is all my fault and now he's gone… .it's so unreal. Please, please let it be a nightmare! I want my dragon back. I want Toothless back. I let the tears run freely but soundlessly down my cheeks, the dirt and grime sticking to the water.

Knocking noises above me shook me out of my thoughts. I wiped the silent tears from my cheek, readying myself.

I pushed myself up on my arms finally, groaning. I wiped my cheeks again to make sure the tears were gone. My hand clutched at my still aching head, finding it hard to see in the dim-lit prison. I sat myself the rest of the way up, peering around the room curiously. The only sounds were of thrashing waves and seagulls coming from a barred window. Grey rivers of light slowly drifted in rectangles from the square window, allowing me to see some. I stood up, looking behind my back and around, getting more confused by the minute. Didn't they say the Bog Burglar heir was supposed to be here?

Before I knew it I was back on the ground facing upward; a sword on my neck and—

-A blonde girl on top of me?

A _pretty _blonde girl on top of me?

"Who are you and what do you want!" she demanded, pressing the sword harder into my throat.

"Uh—" I managed, shaken and unbearably unconfused. Where the heck did she jump from anyway!

"Well?" she inquired, glaring.

"I'll tell you once you get the sword of my neck…" I said, my voice trembling.

She huffed, rolling her eyes and swinging the sword to the side. She got off me, grabbing the middle of my shirt and yanking me to my feet with no effort at all. "TALK!" she demanded.

"I—I—I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III! B-berk's heir; you've heard of Berk right?" I quickly said when she kept the sword pointed at my chest.

"Yes I've heard of Berk," she said, staring off in the distance. A glare crept into her eyes as she looked back at me. "I don't believe you!"

She violently swung the sword at my chest, I barely leapt backwards in time. She kept swinging wildly, she had obviously been very skilled in sword fighting by the way she did it with ease. I ducked and jumped constantly, stumbling each and every time.

"Would you _stop_!" I shouted, narrowly dodging another blow.

"Why should I? You know you're pretty good at this, you can dodge really well! But your balance is totally off. I could beat you easily… rephrased, a baby could beat you easily! Come on, get a little vicious! Show some effort; be a man! Sheath your sword!" She rattled _on and on._

"Gods, do you ever shut-up? How the heck did you get a sword in here anyway!" I yelled, missing another swing.

She froze, dropping her sword and considering the question. She shrugged. "Meh, a girl has her ways," and with that she started swing again. She started to back me in a corner, looking me directly in the eye. "Prove you are who you say you are!" She raised the blade, ready to bring it down.

"M—my Dad's name is Stoick the Vast and IhaveadragonnamedToothless!" I quickly spit out, putting my hands over my face when she looked ready to kill.

Had a dragon named Toothless. Please tears, don't fall again…

Her blade dropped instantly, her eyes wide in awe. "You're _that _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III?"

I looked at her stupidly. "I'd be the IV if I wasn't… ."

She barely let me finish when she stuck out her hand and smiled like nothing had happened. Was she for real? "I'm, zee great Camicazi! Heir to the Bog Burglars', best sword fighter you'll ever meet, and a _very _good thief," 'Camicazi' finished, looking satisfied with herself.

"Uhhhh," I've officially determined it: this chick's nuts. "Hi?" I said, warily taking the hand and shaking it. Camicazi placed her hands on her hips, and that's when I got a good look at her. She was extremely young looking, short and thin; I'm not even sure if she was fourteen! Her hair reached her thighs, and a brush mustn't have come even _near _it for years. She had vibrant light green eyes, paired with light brown freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. A red, long shirt reached her knees, with black boots and leggings to match. A belt wrapped around her waist; and by the looks of it the belt could hold at least six swords. A fur pelt covered her shoulders, with a number of necklaces dangling around her neck (no doubt stolen, judging from her comment before). She almost looked like a gypsy; if not totally ridiculous. "How old are you anyway?" I asked, still confused from her height and the youth in her face. 

"Fourteen," she said, acting insulted, "same as you, right?"

I raised an eyebrow. "O—ok."

"Anyway," she continued, putting her sword back in her belt, "you're the dragon tamer!"

I immediately protested, "I don't really like to be called that; you can't _tame _a dragon, simply befriend one," I explained, feeling something heavy fall on my heart at the memory of the black glove.

"Yeah, whatever you say. It's because of you I have my dragon, Stormfly!" she piped up, looking like a little kid.

"Um, that's—that's great," I said, feeling even more dread.

It was quiet for a moment, Camicazi seemed to be studying me. Her head was cocked to the side, her green orbs twinkly. "Why so sad?" she asked, coming closer to me.

"S-sad?" I asked, putting my hands behind my back and stepping away. I hadn't realized I was letting my emotions show. Well, more I was hoping.

"I'm good at telling people's emotions, and you're giving me a depressing vibe I _don't _appreciate. Why so glum?" she asked casually.

Now I was a bit insulted that she was angry that I was so sad. But I just lost my dragon… I wanted to tell anyone who would listen, just to say it out loud. Why? I don't know, there's just something about saying it out loud to someone that helps. You know what I mean, don't you? And if you don't… lucky you. I took a deep breath of the musky air. "I—I just lost my dragon, Toothless," I began, looking at the ground longingly, "you've probably heard about him, too. The Night Fury… the Romans killed him. And right now—right now I'm really upset so I'm just—I'm just—gonna go over here," I said pointing to a corner and starting to walk to it, not caring if any tears had shown themselves.

"Wait!" she said, looking at me like I was crazy. "He's not _dead, _silly!"

I whipped around, eyes wide. "W-what?" If she was joking…

"He's not dead," she laughed, (which I'm sad to say was sorta—please don't tell Astrid—cute), "I saw them dragging a very live black dragon to another cell; he was roaring like crazy and lit most of the guards on fire, even ripped one of their eyes out!" she said amazed.

I could feel myself smiling as relief filled my entire body. "Yeah… t-that's him," I said, sinking down onto the dirt ground filled with liberation, and feeling one-hundred times happier; even if I was stuck in Rome. Camicazi smiled, strutting over to me and plopping down beside me. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at me, filled with curiosity.

"Y'know… ." she said, inching closer, "you're not bad, for a _boy," _she slugged my arm playfully.

I rubbed the spot she had punched, feeling a sense of déjà vu. "Uhh, thanks I think."

She smiled brightly. "You're very welcome."

Just then the door burst open. Camicazi leapt up and disappeared within the matter of seconds. Roman guards stormed in and looked at me, a malicious glint in their eyes.

"Mm," one of the sniffed, "meet the Bog Burglar heir, Viking?" he sneered, as two of the guards grabbed my arms again. This procedure was getting really annoying.

I started to struggled, moving my arms wildly. "What—do—you—want!" I demanded between fits of thrashing.

He smirked, showing a missing tooth. His tone was full of mock and amusement. "Prefect requested an audience with the _Viking prince."_

**A/N: Yay! You met Camicazi! We'll get to see Toothless soon enough, so no worries. Please please please review! I'm getting a bunch of faves and alerts but no one's telling me why; sorry I probably sound pushy. Anyway, hope you liked! Again, please R&R!**

**God bless!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: God bless all reviewers! I love getting reviews; they make me feel—fluffy. Like cotton candy! Anyway, here's chapter 6, hope you like it.**

**THANK YOU TOOTHLESS-THE-NIGHTFURY! You're an awesome beta : ) seriously, this would suck if you didn't revise it.**

**THIS IS FOR BOOK READERS/FANS: Good/Bad news everybody! I found out the date of the next HTTYD book called "How to Steal a Dragon's Sword" and it's plot! Well, it's a leak but this is what I heard. It will be out April 7, 2011. The plot it everyone is competing in this sword fighting competition to see who will be 'king' of the west. Bad news? Once this one is published Cressida's only writing ONE MORE book to the HTTYD series! And, this is my guess, Hiccup may have to choose between dragons and humans! How cruel can ya get? **

**Qille: Your best bet? Online. It took me forever to find it, too. Try Amazon, Ebay, Barnes and Noble, or Borders. Don't even bother going to the store, though; just check online and buy it over the internet. Hope you find it : )**

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Deals**_

The Roman guards were in a horrific mood even by _their_ standards. Their nails were gnawing into my skin as they dragged me all the way back to the Prefect. Instead of simply walking they stomped, and growled whenever I stumbled. I kept my head low and teeth in my tongue, making sure not to say anything stupid.

After what could've been hours we arrived at the door again. The guards didn't even bother to knock this time; just swung the door dangerously and tossed me to the ground, grumbling something along the lines of 'here's the ***** Viking' only the *****was something I'd rather not repeat.

I barely threw my arms out in time to catch myself. My knees rang with pain as the cold stone floor came into contact. I groaned, slowly raising myself up to meet the beady little eyes of Alvin, and the plump round, curious ones of the Consul. My eyes widened in the slightest, surprised to see the Consul here as well. He studied me with narrowed eyes, scratching his chin. His fat lips were pressed into a hard line, looking me up and down as if I was something they had just tossed out of the garbage.

"Prefect… are you sure this is the magnificent dragon tamer all has buzzed about?" he said, sitting up and gesturing to _all of me._

Alvin sniggered, standing up elegantly and closing half the distance between us. "I said the same thing Consul, but trust me. This little rat is more dangerous then he looks," he snarled at the end, eyes slitting.

"_What is it you want now?" _I hissed through clenched teeth. I saw the Consul widen his eyes, surprised at my hostile attitude.

Alvin snickered a bit, looking down. "We have a proposition for you, Hiccup."

I raised my eye brows, interested.

He didn't even take time to taunt or to get into detail. Just flat out stated it. "Lead us to that underwater cavern by talking to the dragons and you and that beast can go free."

My mind just drew a blank. It just felt—deserted. I couldn't take part in this… no doubt they were just going to kill all the dragons when we were done. But is that worth risking my best friends and my own freedom? What would Toothless think in the first place? He'd be ashamed in me; letting us go free and unharmed while I help with the destruction of two tribes and all their dragons. Toothless can act like a kid sometimes but is responsible and wise when he needs to be; and this would be one of those times.

WWTD?

What would Toothless Do?

….

Oh Thor.

"No," I replied, no sense of emotion in my tone.

"No?" Alvin asked, sounding confused and outraged.

"_No_," I stated again.

I saw the anger start to boil on Alvin's face, his cheeks becoming a very dark shade of scarlet. "_Why not?" _he demanded through clenched teeth. "Your beast is ready to get out of here. Wails every night… devil's been scarred, mentally and physically," he taunted admiring his glove again.

I had to keep reminding myself that Alvin was lying; _I _know Toothless wouldn't want it that way. He's a good dragon; he knows it'd be the right thing to do. I can't let my whole tribe suffer; and Toothless wouldn't let his brethren suffer. I'm doing the right thing… _I'm doing the right thing…_

"Then again he's not exactly expecting to be leaving with _you…" _

My head shot up, my thoughts coming to an abrupt halt. "Why?" I demanded harshly, making the Consul to raise his eye brows.

"Ahh," Alvin sniffed, "Told him you were dead."

"_You WHAT!" _

Alvin smirked. "Oh yeah… gave him the Dragon Stone to prove it too. I told'm we brought 'ya here and well… ." He drove his finger across his neck, making a choking sound.

Oh—_I'll _show him what a real choking sound is…

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded, feeling the blood rush to my face. "He didn't do anything! He doesn't deserve that! Where is he, I wanna see him—!"

"Would you SHUT-UP? Doesn't matter anymore anyway, he'll just die in a few days…" Alvin said, sneering disgustingly.

My eyes flashed, and I could feel my breath catching in my throat. "What did you do?" I said in a monotone voice.

The smirked reached Alvin's ears. "Fed him eel…"

The breath I was holding left my mouth, I could feel myself shuttering and eyes starting to burn. Alvin cackled a short, distant snicker. He walked over to me, placing his cold metal hook around my throat. "_Now _will you do it? I'll give you the antidote. Will you do it to save the beasts and your own life?"

I resisted the urge to tear up. I sound so pathetic, but because of my choice Toothless _and _I were going to die.

"No," I whispered.

Alvin stayed emotionless, surprisingly. But his tone was icy and sharp. "Give me a reason!"

"I can't risk a hundred of my tribe's—and dragon's—lives!"

Alvin's face corrupted into a hardened mask; his features scrunching up with anger. Before I knew it he slapped me, the stings ringing through my cheek. My teeth pierced into my lip as an attempt not to cry out in pain. In an instant I could feel my cheek on the cold, smooth floor; my chest rising up and down heavily. I slowly looked up to Alvin, glaring hotly. Alvin squared his jaw, his eyes narrowing in distaste. He shot a look to a guard in the corner.

"Kill the boy! Right now!"

The guard smiled.

"How, sir?" he inquired, his voice drenched with a venomous tone.

"I don't care! Anything long and painful; but I want to watch!" Alvin snarled, his teeth tight together.

Before I knew it the guard had grabbed me around the neck, and was heaving me to my feet. I made strangled, choking sounds as his grimy fingers clutched harder at my throat. I watched horrifically as he slowly drew a short blade from his belt, the metal glistening in response to the light. I struggled frantically, kicking and scratching. The guard reared the blade back; I made one more panicked, scared gasp….

"Hold the knife!"

The whole room froze. I stopped kicking, simultaneously everyone's eyes shot up to the Consul, who was now standing with his hand raised. Alvin was red in the face with anger, staring at the Consul stupidly. The guard whom seemed so pleased to drive the dagger in my stomach looked furious, his teeth showing into a grim frown. Me on the other hand, well, I was completely stunned.

"Don't look at me like that, guard!" he snapped, finally using his giant (see what I did there?) authority for good use. "Go back to your corner; I have another proposition for the Viking here."

My mouth went limp. The guard gave me a piercing glare, looking between me and the Consul. With a final growl he dropped me and went back to his place. I stifled a groan of pain, trying to ignore the new bruise sprouting on my knees. Alvin appeared to be dumbstruck. He whipped around to face the Consul, his eyes flickering with fire.

"Consul, what could possibly be your proposition for the scum! I—"

"_Hush _prefect, I understand your hatred for the boy but you will enjoy this," the Consul explained, his face in a hard mask. Alvin snapped his mouth shut, his face still a boiling red. The Consul now looked to me, his little eyes roving up and down. "_You __are_ the dragon tamer, correct?"

"Well," I choked, rubbing my sore neck, "you can't tame a dragon. But sure, whatever you call me…" I settled with, not in the mood to fight.

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you. You seem to be a clever boy… Prefect?" Alvin looked to him. "We do not kill the boy now. I want to save him 'till Saturn's day Saturday and see the Viking in the gladiator ring…"

Alvin was steaming with fury. "But-but Consul! We should kill the boy now while we can—he's clever and tricky, Saturn's day Saturday is nearly two weeks away. That's too much time for him, he could ruin—!"

"Who gives the orders prefect!" the Consul bellowed, making Alvin step back and very reluctantly shut his mouth. "What better than to see the dragon tamer killed by dragons, hm? It's final, we wait to kill the boy," the Consul finished, looking dignified.

But Alvin was right, I _am _clever. I was going to milk this for all it's worth. Time to get back at him…

"Wait!" I shouted, every eye turning a reproachful glare at me, "Why would I want to be killed by dragons. Maybe I _want _you to kill me now, just to get it over with!"

The Consul scratched his chin, his eyes narrowed in thought, and slight curiosity. "Go on…"

Now it was my turn to glare. "What's in it for me?"

Everyone's eyes flashed. I could see Alvin just scribbling with anger and hatred. The Consul on the other hand, was amused. His eyes were glinting with fun, his chubby lips into a tiny smirk. A thick silenced blanketed the room, till finally the Consul scoffed. "You were right prefect, the boy is smart. Tell you what, Viking," he said, pointing a finger at me, "one positive is that you get to live another two weeks… eh, plus if you wait to die, I'll give you that antidote for your dragon." He waved the last thing off as if it were nothing.

Surprisingly, I wanted more. I knew I could get more.

I narrowed my eyes further, trying to copy the icy tone that Alvin had used with me. "Ok, but I want to see him, and I want to be the one to give it to him or no deal!"

The Consul erupted into hardy laughter that echoed throughout the whole room. Alvin looked at him as if he was stupid, his teeth barring into a cold frown. "Oh, you really are smart for a Viking, aren't you!" he paused, scratching his chin once again in thought. He puckered his lips, as if using real effort to think. Finally he smiled, his eyes playful. "Oh all right."

Alvin was so red in the face now; I'm sure from a distance he would've appeared to be on fire. Now I think about it, he looked like that close up too.

"CONSUL—!"

"PREFECT! I am in charge, now HUSH! Guards!" he looked up, addressing the two other men in the room. "Take the Viking girl and boy to the devil's cell. Besides, this'll save cell room, anyway." The Guards seemed totally flabbergasted, a dumb look on their face. The Consul narrowed his bright blue eyes, clapping loudly. "NOW!"

The Guards ushered over, hooking their hands around my arms again and dragging me out. The last thing I heard were Alvin's various curses as we stepped into the bleak outside, where the drizzling rain lightly dabbed across my smirking face.

O~~~~~~O

The Guard banged the door to my old cell open harshly, as the other guard held both my arms and waited outside. I bit my lip, trying not to say anything sarcastic or just not to whoop out in joy. I was going to see my best friend again! You would've been as excited as me if you were in my situation, wouldn't you? I tried so hard not to bounce my leg up and down in anticipation as I listened to the murmured taunts of Camicazi and the icy remarks of the Guard. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the Guard shoved a very annoyed Camicazi out of the cell, her hands on her hips. The Guard stepped out with a handful of swords—no doubt taken from Camicazi, said blonde tapped her foot, looking almost bored. The Roman shook his head, tossing every weapon Camicazi had back into the cell to be collected later. After _centuries _of waiting, both Guards roughly guided us to our new cell.

The walk to Toothless's cell was quite scarring, and no doubt frightening. We passed hundreds of other cells, some with occupants, others ghostly empty. The occupants are what frightened me. Though most humans, some were dragons. The dragons usually sulked in a corner, trying their best to keep living, to keep breathing even. My whole face fell upon seeing them, and all I felt towards the beautiful creatures was pity and remorse that I couldn't do anything. But the humans we saw… well I'm sure to have nightmares. All of them were totally crazy, rocking back and forth in a corner muttering something under their breath. A couple times, they saw us walking by, and before I knew it they were at the bars of the cell, a bony, bloody hand with what _used _to be nails, which now looked more like claws, reaching for us. Their eyes were blood shot and wide, most of them I noticed had no teeth as they screeched curses and who knows what at us at the top of their lungs. Once one of the people grabbed a hold of my neck, and as quickly as counting to two they had me pinned against the bars of their cell, muttering words which I could not determine. I held my breath as they spoke, because as you can guess they did _not _smell pleasant. The guard rammed the butt of his sword on the hand, releasing me and quickly grabbing the back of my neck again. I noticed we all walked with a speedier pace after that.

Finally we came to an all wooden door with a metal slot at the bottom and top—probably for food or when the Guards just wanted to mock whoever occupied the cell. The guard holding me shifted through a ring of complicated looking keys, finally coming to a medium sized, rusty looking one and shoving it in the door's lock. The breath I was holding finally escaped when the door opened with creaks of protest. The Guard gave me one final glower, before clutching his fingers around my neck again and throwing me, along with Camicazi, in the cell.

Both of us were on the dirty ground when we heard the wooden door bang shut, followed almost instantly by the locks clicking into place. I groaned again, getting agitated with finding myself on the ground so many times today. I looked back at the door, finally noticing the differences in this cell compared to the others. This one had a stone floor, not dirt, with some straw sprinkled in various places. Because the door was wooden and not barred, there was almost no light and my eyes took a while to adjust. The only source of comfort came from the gray trickles of moon-light that showered down in rectangles above our heads.

Camicazi tapped my shoulder. I looked at her in alarm. She pointed behind her with her thumb, and for the first time she didn't have a smug look on her face. She was concerned. And then I noticed the sounds of chains rattling behind me.

I spun around. "Toothless?"

He pulled harder against the chains holding him back, a whimper escaping his muzzled mouth.

"_Toothless_!"

I sprang up, sprinting across the small cell only to fall back down again right by his side. I hugged him tight around his head, and he pressed against my chest, small whines emitting from his throat. I looked horrifically at his bandaged side. One bandage for his spear wound, the other for where they took skin for Alvin's glove. I felt another pang of loathe and anger towards Alvin as Toothless whimpered again. I pulled his head up, trying to examine the muzzle. His jaded eyes sorrowfully looked back into mine, and I saw the broken spirit of this dragon linger in them for a moment. I let out a shaking breath, saying soothing words that did nothing, and trying to scratch him under the chin as a familiar, comforting gesture. I turned his head to the side, looking at the lock that held the muzzle on there with loss. All of the sudden my hands shot up and tried to break the lock, as if that would ever happen. Biting my lip in defeat, another rattling breath left me as I gave up.

"I'm sorry buddy, I can't get it off," I said mournfully.

"Let me help." I turned around to meet the pitiful eyes of Camicazi. She had one of her necklace's charms in her hand, and once I got a closer look I noticed it was a blade. My eyes widened, but I nodded. She stepped forward….

Toothless roared in fear and rage, and the chains squeaked and rattled more as he tried to step in front of me. He was frantic, pulling crazy on the restraints until his roars died down into heartbreaking whimpers.

"Toothless, stop!" I said, coming in front of him and holding down his head on my lap again. "It's ok, she's not gonna hurt you! Stop buddy, it's ok, you're ok…"

I continued to say consoling words, hiding his eyes at the same time, as Camicazi fiddled with the lock that held the muzzle on. Finally there was a click and a sigh of relief from Camicazi; looking to her hopefully, and she managed a small smile back. I let go of Toothless's head and Camicazi delicately slid the muzzle off. She threw it to the side, and took her place behind us again. Toothless slowly raised his head, moving his jaw up and down again as if testing it. Finally his eyes met mine again, and a wail that shattered my already damaged heart escaped his mouth. I tried more soothing words, but they just went through him. He continued nuzzling my neck, occasionally licking my cheek. I tried to get him to stop, because I really didn't like seeing him look so weak and worn, and it was scary; sighing in defeat I hugged his head again. We sat there for a moment, glad to see each other alive and breathing, until I mournfully lifted his head and looked him straight in the eyes again. Kinda like the time we were about to kill each other in the forest that day.

I sighed. "What did they do to you buddy?" He hung his eyes as if considering the question, before resting his head on my lap again. I noticed the glimmer of something red beneath his paws. I seized it quickly; realizing it was the Dragon Stone Alvin had told me he gave Toothless after he told him I was dead, I placed it around my neck, and before even considering anything I gently lifted Toothless's head again. He looked at me sadly, ramming his head into my chest again. I sighed once again as my dragon continued to look so frail. "Come on buddy talk to me," I begged. Nothing left the dragon's mouth. "Please?"

Nothing.

He licked my cheek softly, before resting his head on my lap again. Yet another sigh left me in defeat as I scratched the top of his head.

My head shot up as I heard the sound of snapping ropes. Camicazi was cutting the ropes that bound Toothless's wings to his body, her eyes full of sympathy. After cutting the final rope she caught my eye; at first alarmed, but then her eyes became mournful again as she stared at me and Toothless.

"I noticed he was shaking. They obviously haven't exercised him at all. To keep his health up you're gonna need to stretch his wings out or make him walk in place or something. If not he'll become too weak," she explained, gingerly gliding her fingertips across the leathery wing.

I was awe struck. "Thank you," was all I came up with. She nodded, managing a reassuring smile, and went to sit in a corner.

I immediately stood up (much to Toothless's whines) and stretched out the dragon's wings, massaging them in places where the muscle seemed more fragile. Toothless watched me the whole time, which at a point and time I would've been used to. But now it was just eerie and weird.

"Buddy, can you please talk to me? You're scaring me," I tried to reason.

He gave me a knowing look.

"Please don't tell me they took out your vocal chords…" I said; half-joking while half-serious.

He snorted, rolling his eyes. I smiled as he seemed to gain more confidence.

I stopped massaging his wings for a moment, letting my hopeful face fall. "D-did they really feed you eel?"

I heard him sigh, but he slowly nodded. I dug my overgrown teeth into my lip, feeling remorse and guilt take over my feelings again.

"I'm so sorry buddy. It's all my fault…" I trailed off, looking at the bloody bandages and feeling my eyes water.

He whined, shaking his head.

I scoffed. "You know it's my fault. It should've been me the Romans took, not you." He started to shake his head faster. "Quit shaking your head, when you start to talk I'll listen to you," I snapped, feeling bad about it almost instantly. "I'm sorry…." I whined again.

He growled at me, his green eyes glowing in the dim light. I wasn't sure if he was mad at me because I snapped at him, or annoyed with me because I kept saying sorry. Even if it was the second reason that wasn't going to stop me from being sorry.

I rubbed the back of my head tiredly, my eyes fogging over. "I'm sorry buddy; you're not a beast…."

His wing smacked the back of my head. I almost fell forward but barely caught myself, grimacing at the giggle I heard coming from the corner. Toothless was staring at me disapprovingly, but I just frowned back.

"You know I didn't mean it right?" I whispered.

He rolled his eyes, nodding his head in a bored fashion. He looked at me, giving me a gummy smile. I barely managed a small smile back, still feeling the remorse cling to me. Now it was his turn to frown. He crooned, gesturing with his head for me to sit down. I looked at him dumbly for a moment. With another roll of the eyes he shoved me to the ground with his wing. I plopped down heavily at his side, almost confused as he wrapped his wing around me. I looked at him, eye brows raised, and he snorted. He laid his head down, lazily closing his eyes. He cracked a glowing green eye open, seeing if I had caught on. I smiled, laying my head against the warm flank and finally resting. I swear I heard him scoff as I finally drifted off to sleep, the patter of heavy rain thundering against the roof.

**A/N: Ok, the last bit was way more fluffy than intended. Just tell me if I gave anyone cavities… **

**Two things, I'm going to do a chapter of what's going on in Berk right now so just to warn you. I've **_**also **_**been thinking of doing a chapter of what happened to Toothless in Rome. But then I thought twice about it because you'd have to do a lot to Toothless to put him in that kinda state, and I don't have the heart or mind for that. Though if any of you want it, I'll write it. I'm just sad to say I need ways to torture Toothless if you do want it…did I seriously just say that? Aw man. Well, review please!**

**God bless!**


	7. Author's NoteApology

**Look guys, I'm alive….heh heh….**

**I'm SO SORRY. Really really really really really really really sorry. It's been nearly a year hasn't it? I'm a horrible person…**

**But this is just a quick note that I will be updating, very soon ( I hope) Lately it's just been CRAZY. Nothing bad happened no, but this is probably the first free weekend I've had since…. April? And to add to that I just started high school, which is absolutely terrifying, btw, and the homework amount gives me nightmares (no joke). BUT! I will be updating, hopefully next weekend, and more often. I'll even have a new story! Not HTTYD, unfortunately, I've recently been introduced to some anime series… **

**But anyway, for my small amount of readers still out there, you deserve a giant apology, and a good long chapter….thanks for sticking with me!**

**God bless! 3 **


	8. Chapter 7

**You guys all deserve a HUGE apology. I'm sorry I haven't updated in over year, I'm appalled with myself, and the crappy writing skills I used on the rest of this story…they've improved over the year, lucky you guys, so…here we go…**

**Disclaimer **

_**Chapter 7**_

Stoick's meaty hand smashed the blade of his knife into the wood of the table, he continued showing his aggravation by sitting on his chair with a heavy thump and resting his tired head in his hands. The hall was deathly silent as the entire village watched their chief mourn over his son, his meaty fingers rubbing his temples sluggishly. Gobber stayed right beside him, looking at the ground with a distant look, and the rest of the trainees were huddled into a corner of the hall, the aura of anger and sadness seeming to scare everyone else a way.

A stained, torn around the edges letter lay in front of Stoick, the loopy handwriting and ink-splotches strewn across the parchment mocking him.

"It just doesn't make any sense…" he whispered to himself, gazing at the letter. "Why would they think…?" He left his thought unfinished.

Astrid slowly slid down the wall she was leaning on, resting her chin on her knees.

"Somebody should have gone with him…"

Ruff slid down next to her, resting a gentle hand on her should and looking at her with drained eyes. "Would it have mattered?"

The hall stayed frozen, quiet as a cemetery, until Stoick dreadfully lifted his head up and stood with a new found confidence, his piercing glare swooping across the hall.

"I'm declaring a war against the Bog Burglars." His tone was dry and unarguable, colder than the arctic tundra.

"Agreed!" Gobber said determinedly, the rest of the villagers nodding their heads and adding low mutterings of agreement. "Aft'r all, 'iccup saved us from the Red De'th, we should save 'im!"

The crowd cheered in approval, hands lifting into the air with excitement at the thought of going into battle. The teens had a different reaction, knowing full well that their friend wouldn't want an entire war broken out over this, and if anything make the resentment between the two tribes more taut.

"Stoick!" Astrid shouted through the cheering, springing up from her position on the crowds and shoving her way towards her chief, nearly slamming into the table with the force she had used to push her way through. "Can't we think about this? I know you're angry, all of us are! But…a war? Hiccup—"

"Is the only family I have left!" Stoick bellowed, cutting the girl off as she stepped away from the enraged father, bottom lip trembling. "Accusing us of stealing their heir is an insult in the first place, and then they go and take ours!" he paused, composing himself somewhat. "They have offended our tribe, and like Hel I'm going to just stand here while they have my son!" Another cheer erupted through the crowd, making Astrid flinch. "I declare war," he finished simply, gritting his teeth, a ferocious, sharp violent look in his shadowed eyes.

O~~~~~~O

I couldn't tell if it was morning or not; all I knew was that whatever time it was it was still dark out, my back _killed, _and the slow rise and fall of the black lump I leaned against proved that my friend was still alive—if he was alive and _well, _I don't know, he hasn't spoken yet.

Said black lump let out a low whimper, his whole body trembling against my small frame. I crawled out from under the giant wing and stroked his head, not saying anything but showing him I was there. The whimpers quieted eventually and his breathing pattern started to fall back into a steady rhythm. I smiled contently, but a sad sigh still left my lips. Shivering against the chilled breeze coming from the tiny hole they called a window in this hel-hole, and rubbed Toothless's head one last time and then scooted back under his wing, thankful for the heat radiating off the dragon's body.

"How?"

The small, smooth but confident voice came from a corner the right corner of the cell. I glanced over to meet the glowing green eyes of Camicazi; they looked almost like dragon eyes in the darkness, the rest of her body being nearly invisible.

"How…what?" I questioned, not moving from my place under the wing but still giving her my attention.

"Well…" she blinked, the corner of the room going dark for a moment with the absence of the glowing green eyes. "I have a lot of 'how' questions…" She stared at the ceiling of the prison, as if she were gazing at the stars. Through the faint shadows I could tell she was gnawing on her bottom lip in thought.

"Ok, start with one, and work your way up," I encouraged half-heartedly.

She smirked, blinking again then staring back at me. "How did you two come to trust each other?" she inquired, lifting herself up with her hands and sitting Indian-style, preparing for a long collection of stories it seemed.

_Oh I see…what is she, some type of fangirl that wants her facts straight? _I thought bored-ly, with a hint of amusement.

Suddenly there was a new blooming of a lighter green coming from my right direction. I looked over to see Toothless now widely awake, watching the girl with zero interest, but listening intently to see how I would answer. He felt my stare, and looked back at me for a moment before crooning me to continue with an answer, he wanted my opinion. His gummy smile smirked.

"Well..." I rubbed the back of my head, scooting back more into the warmth. "It was a series of events really, I had to approach him carefully and show him I was good. I brought fish, and once he understood that I was going to help him fly again, the trust between us was sealed…but, when I think about it…" Now it was my turn to look up at the ceiling, remembering fondly of the times Toothless and I spent in the cove, and both of our situations at the time. "We were both alone." I petted his flank absentmindedly. "I was a disgrace to the village, my own Father didn't seem to acknowledge even my presence, most of the time, at least, and nobody really wanted me around…Toothless was being controlled by this inferior being, didn't even have the luxury of making his own choices or having his own thoughts. Not to mention he was the only one of his kind, and the rest of the dragons seemed to…_fear _him, and kept their distance. We both needed someone to trust." I was rambling before I knew it. Toothless grumbled in agreement, it seemed, tightening the wing around me.

Camicazi giggled, her crazy and wild hair bouncing with each laugh. "How sweet…" The Bog Burglar stared at us with admiration, thinking of her next question. "And how does the powerful Night Fury feel about that?" she asked innocently.

"Uh…" I looked to Toothless, who still had a smirk adorned upon his face. The dragon huffed smoke from his nostrils, before nudging my prosthetic with his snout. Not understanding what he meant entirely, I cocked my head to the side. Toothless shook his head and then pulled his tail around me, and setting it right next to my prosthetic. I stared at the two for a while before finally understanding. "He says…that in a way we're the same. We're different from the people around us, and need someone to rely on. He relies on me for flight, I rely on him to help me walk. There was…a silent mutual understanding when I lost my leg, and if anything it made our bond stronger, well I think it did…" Toothless chirped, showing me I got it right.

Camicazi nodded. "Alright, just one more question," her voice lowered to a hush, which seemed like a rare occasion, and it was almost shy-sounding, "how do you think they could break the spirit of a dragon like Toothless so easily?"

This left me quiet for a while; Toothless's face fell at the question, and with an annoyed expression he lowered his head back down and closed his eyes. I petted him, biting my lip. "I don't know…"

We sat in stillness for a while after that. There wasn't much to do but wait, and think about the horrible things to come, if they decided to even pay us that much attention or let us die of neglect. I finally took in my surroundings; the cell kept a dark gray hue most of the time, due to the storm clouds that hovered in the air outside. The air was always chilly and my skin was always speckled with goose bumps, and in the night you could almost see your breath. The smell was absolutely horrid; it was fetid, old, and dusty, with a hint of urine in it. The odor was suffocating, and I woke up more than once at night gagging on whom on earth knows what. I eventually stood up and began massaging Toothless's tight muscles again, which now were weaker and frail with lack of exercise. He whined when I pressed too hard a few times, but other than that he stayed silent. With a long, over-done sigh, I crawled back under the safety of the Night Fury's wing and tried to sleep. Sleep, however, seemed to be a lost cause.

The cell door slammed open, jolting all three of us out of our stupors. A beefy Roman Guard entered with his shoulders held high-and-mighty. His nose was flicked up with distaste as he eyed the dragon and Vikings huddled in opposite corners of the room. Camicazi seemed somewhat bored and irritated with his smug presence. Toothless let a low rumble escape his throat, and I felt his fragile muscles tense under me. I put a hand on his flank, but kept my dark green eyes on the guard and my face emotionless.

The guard said nothing, but stepped to the side to allow the one and only Alvin the Treacherous to enter, an even smugger look on his face. He humph-ed at us, setting his beady sharp eyes to stare at Toothless and me. Toothless growled lowly, but I kept my face an emotionless mask as Alvin and I stared at each other roughly, saying nothing but intimidating the other with silence. The pirate's thin colorless lips pointed at one end into a sneer, and with a breathy cackle he took off one of the chains around his neck; attached to the dulled gold chain was a tiny vial filled with a liquid paler than Alvin's lips, a bark colored cork keeping the liquid in the vial and the glass curled around itself at one end.

The scarecrow of a man held it up with his index finger and thumb, the miniscule bottle no bigger than his eye.

"This should be enough to help cure the devil," he mumbled, still examining the, what I'm assuming, antidote.

He flicked the delicate flask into the air, and darting out from Toothless's wing, I was barely able to make the catch, cradling the medicine in my hands, knowing that it held my dragon's life. Alvin's hissy voice didn't make a single comment, the only sounds he left were that of his shows smacking against the stone floor, as he wrenched the heavy bolted door open and left, letting it clash behind him.

I slowly let my chilled palms reveal the antidote, and letting out a weighted breath I turned back to Toothless. His pointed head held a solemn look, his jaded eyes furrowed and mouth in a straight line. He huffed, shaking his head back and forth like a dog and cooing to me. I bit my lip harshly; making my way over to him cautiously, we never lost eye contact until I offered the medicine to him.

"Ok, Toothless…" I started, feeling my own hands wracking with nervousness, "Just, open your mouth buddy, ok? This will make you feel better…" I comforted, which was probably about as helpful as shoving the antidote down his throat whether he liked it or not. The Night Fury's teeth pierced through his gums and let out a malicious hiss; his eyes were thinner than the lead at the end of a pencil, and his claws screeched across the durable stone as he tried to advance backwards, shunning the medicine all together. His familiar green eyes held so much distrust in them, flowing with apprehension and an inimical attitude; he might as well of bit me with his needle sharp teeth.

I recoiled back, hiding the vial once again in my hands. I stayed silent at his low growl, trembling slightly at the sight of the foreign way my dragon was treating me. "Toothless," I said, a bit of a whine in my voice, "this is going to help you buddy, please take it…" I begged, moving an inch forward timidly. His snarls turned into a roar, surprising both of us I believe. Toothless _never _acted so harsh or threatening towards me. The Romans shattered him. My mouth twitched into a frown, and I dug my nails into the side of the fragile glass flask in my hand. I grit my teeth together, mirroring the dragon's expression and looking straight into his eyes.

"Toothless you're going to take the medicine," I avowed, letting no sympathy drip into my voice. Toothless's eyes dilated for a moment at my firmness, but then his nose scrunched up and his pupils conical, a vicious snarl sputtering from between his teeth. Keeping my composure, I stared back at him with no emotion but determination—he knew as well as anyone that when I decided to do something, no burly Viking or pissed off dragon was going to stop me.

Rubbing his fangs back and forth on each other, his eyes _mildly _grew softer and his voice came out husky and dark. _"It's not that I don't trust you—I don't trust that damn medicine."_

Smoke flitted from his nostrils, and I clenched my fists. I couldn't tell whether to feel relieved that he had finally spoken or frustrated at his resistance. Whether I trusted the medicine as well didn't matter—it either his death came nearer, or it put off the inevitable. In a twisted sick way, I wasn't sure if either was a bad option; I couldn't stand seeing him suffer and this antidote was going to end his pain one way or another.

"Tooth…just try it, for me?" I tried again, trying to sound as pitiful and pathetic as I was feeling. A cloud of dark ash sprouted from his nose once again, giving me the answer I was looking for. My teeth split skin and I tasted copper in my mouth—he wasn't going to get away that easily. I heard my metal prosthetic drudge against the stone, the bottle held out in front of me in a firm grasp—and I pounced.

Toothless growled unexpectedly, his teeth shooting back in his gums quickly to avoid any 'accidental' bites. I flung my arms around the top of his head in an attempt to keep his mouth open, just long enough for me to slip the medicine in. And, of course, a scraggly fourteen year old against a muscly powerful dragon, didn't amount to much. In fact, my attempt to get him to take the stupid antidote was probably about as useful as me trying to get him to eat eel.

He threw me to the side and I skidded across the slick stones, my back slamming into the prison walls not far away. His eyes seemed apologetic but his demeanor was still hostile, back hunched up in the air like that of a cat's and his ebony darker than night scales glinting off the very little light in the room. I sprang back up and planned my moves more carefully this time; with a cautious posture I stared down the dragon, which did likewise. I slid my foot across the rocks silently, waiting for a good opportunity. An idea came to mind; I let my body slump forward and my determined attitude drop with it—Toothless cocked his head, confused. I blinked sadly, sighing, and letting the antidote fall from my protective grasp. My body fell with it, and I sat on the ground in a defeated position, looking up at my friend conquered.

"Fine," I muttered, barely moving my lips as I spoke. My gaze drifted to the droplets of rain outside the cell, our little hole into the outside world seemed appeared to be defeated as well. A blink; a stare. Toothless laid his head on the ground and whined to me apologetically, eyes now innocent and wide. "Have it your way," I finished, not looking him in the eye, and waiting. I was waiting for some ounce of guilt to set in, for his guard to crumble.

He flicked an eyelid and I was on top of him. My toothpicks I like to call arms wound around his neck and I tried to force my hand in his mouth, the vial clenched within it. Now he was shaking with irritation; in a swift movement he flicked his head to the side, sending me hurtling towards the hard floor like a pitiful crashing baby bird. Somehow my left leg managed to twist at a peculiar angle, landing upright on the ground while the rest of my body continued to fall. I heard the end of my half-leg crunch against the prosthetic in an agonizingly gradual process; and _Hel _that hurt. A pained, hoarse cry emitted from my throat as the injured leg finally fell flat against the floor along with the rest of me. My dirty nails gouged into the stone in an attempt to with stand the pain, but it only made me feel more uncomfortable. I noticed a mass of blonde standing in the corner, hands clenched together and being held to her mouth, sparkly green eyes eclectic with shock and nervousness. She watched the entire thing, knowing not to get in the way and that it was between my dragon and I.

Toothless let out a displeased screech, finally going back to his usual worrisome self and hurtling his nose to my let. The coolness eased the sting slightly, his breaths chilling the warm pain in my leg. I fisted my hand around the medicine and dragged myself away from the dragon, whose cat-like eyes were brimming with concern. An ugly scowl replaced the expression on my face, both from the pain the how my dragon was acting.

"That's not fair," I choked out, bringing my left leg up with my hands and trying to keep some form of pressure on it. "You don't even care about your own well-being; no way will I let you care about mine." My voice sounded a little too blunt, but it needed to be said.

Yes, I have reverted back to acting like a six year old. And it felt good.

His expression darkened for the slightest moment, but then softened. He pattered his way over to me, nudging the injured leg caringly before meeting my eyes again, our noses inches from each other.

_"Where is it?" _he asked grimly. My own expression now relaxed, and I held out my trembling palm to reveal the little flask that started it all. He huffed at it, hard enough to make the object move back slightly in my hand. The Night Fury hesitantly poked my hand with the tip of his nose, opening his mouth slightly to indicate that he would _finally _take it. I felt like I cheated him, the way I finally got him to take the measly liquid, even though it wasn't my fault I got hurt. Though it kind of was, learning from a young age _not _to jump creatures very clearly bigger than you, I had ignored the golden rule. But as long as he got better, and his prideful spirit came back to his fallen cracked eyes…

The cork made a plopping sound as I pulled it off. The translucent liquid poured from the tiny vial quickly, and in less than a second Toothless swallowed its entire contents. Not even taking the energy to put the cork back on, I chucked the bottle across the room, hearing a satisfying miniscule shatter. We stayed silent for a moment, Toothless examining the damage done to my leg. I gingerly hugged his head, my cold cheek resting against his warm forehead.

"Thanks," I mumbled miserably, now feeling the guilt weld an icy metal stone in my chest. A tongue flicked out and licked the spoiled stump, a heavy head resting itself in my lap.

_"I'm sorry."_

"Me too," I whispered, only audible to Toothless and myself.

The cheesy, yanked out of a movie moment was interrupted when a previously nervous girl walked her way over to us, a small new confidence growing leisurely. I followed her with my eyes, curious. She sank to our level, petite knees up to her chest and balancing carefully on her feet. Her eyes held a gentleness only a woman's could, and her voice was timid but sounded very tactfully planned.

"So are you guys alright, now?" she asked, her higher than natural voice barely making itself clear over the rain. I nodded in reply, tiredly resting my head back on Toothless's. The dreary atmosphere and previous fire in my leg made me want nothing more than to sleep. However, a particular eccentric, bipolar bog burglar would have none of it. She sprang up like a jack in the box, her hands clapping together with a child's delight. Her smile sparkled like her eyes, her shaggy coarse hair splaying out in her face. "Good! It's about time we get to work!"

"Work?" Toothless and I both raised our heads and stared at the girl, confused. We shared a glance for a fraction of a second, coming to the same conclusion.

This chick was _nuts. _

"Yes work," she said, sticking out her tongue and roaming the cell in a circle, milky green eyes studying the small space. "We're going to get out of here…nobody can keep a bog burglar under lock and key," she added as an afterthought, not intending us to hear it.

"Uh," I started, standing up and leaning on Toothless as support, eyeing the blonde curiously. "you do know there's probably twenty Roman guards just outside this cell, and you think we're _actually _going to be able to get out of here, unharmed?"

She paused, a bored look on her face. "Yeah," she replied, hands resting on her hips and voice as bored as her face.

"…whatever you're on, can I have some?"

_**Smack.**_

__Camicazi smacked her hands together, as if rubbing off dirt after a long day's work. "Very funny."

"_Not really_," I cringed, rubbing the back of my head. Toothless snorted amusedly.

O~~~~~~O

The Vikings back on Berk were getting out of hand in the hall, all acting like animals ready to attack their prey. Shouts of revenge and fighting for the dragon tamer rang like thunder during a midsummer's storm, Astrid's head spinning like the tornado that followed said storm.

"Stoick, just listen!" she tried again, using the loudest voice she could muster to scream over the crowd. His statue-like face turned its glare towards her, and she stepped back surprised, however did not back down. "Forgive me chief Stoick," she began, voice overcome with emotion and holding a heavy tone, "but you need to listen to your son sometimes!" The crowd slowly ceased their cheers, burly arms lowered as angered but curious faces turned towards the short girl. "Don't tell me Hiccup didn't mention anything about the Romans to you…did he Stoick?"

The whole room paused with the speaker, attention now on the chief. He thought about it, but then looked down ashamedly, muttering something about a couple of mornings ago. "So he did," she finished, voice having no mercy on the heart broken father. Her small steps made their way toward the table, dainty but strong hands picking up the frayed letter and holding it in his face. "Open your eyes Stoick! Look at this letter…the vocabulary, the handwriting, the parchment itself. It's so…elegant compared to us Vikings!" Some grumbled at the statement. "Just saying…" she mumbled.

Stoick snatched the letter out of her hands, looking at it thoroughly. To his slow becoming horror, he realized that it was more proper than most Vikings are accustomed to; just the loopy signature in itself suggested fraud. His anger had blinded him. The chief's mouth parted slightly, his fat lips barely visible through his thick dark red beard. The room cradled an airy silence that buzzed with anticipation and wonderment; even the dust particles seemed to have slowed and halted their movement in the small sunlight as the father felt terror speed through his veins.

"Stoick, just _please, _just consider that maybe this is all some scam…Hiccup could be in trouble, and we could possibly be fighting the wrong people as he waits alone in a cell somewhere, probably scared…" her voice drifted now, becoming consumed with the worry for her friend's safety. "Please," she pleaded for a final time.

The chief's gaze drifted to the parchment, his stare so hard and filled with thought that it's a wonder that the paper didn't burst into flame. Then he let his eyes drift to the pleading girl, her eyes that could take on a river's shimmery blue wide and so filled with hope that he was surprised that he couldn't _see _it dripping out of her. He quickly glanced back at each thing now, meaty lips forming a hard line and bushy brows angling down in distaste.

"I'm the chief, I decide what to do."

**A/N: Heh…this is so crappy. Especially compared to the time I made you guys wait! T_T Again my apologies, this is going up without a beta (to begin with, considering the long wait) so please have mercy on my crappy grammar and writing skill. To tell you the truth my fandom for HTTYD is dwindling as I've found new things, and its SUPER, SUPER, SUPER, tough to focus now, but I'll do my best. I apologize. Deeply. Helpful reviews would be nice, and by all means, if you just want to yell at me for making you wait, go nuts…**


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